Scream Me a Love Song
by AlphaWriter1
Summary: Music speaks when words fail. All of the messages that the mind can't figure out a way to share are broadcasted through songs and their lyrics. And the strongest emotion that requires a soundtrack is love. (Presenting a collection of song-fics, mainly centered on LUCAYA but featuring other couples).
1. Manhattan in the Sky

**Scream Me A Love Song  
A Collection of Song Fictions  
No. 1 Manhattan From the Sky **

_**A/N: So, during my shorter spans of updates, I'll be working on a series of one-shots, all song-fics. I have a few ideas in mind and I'm more than willing to take requests. I'm focusing on LUCAYA, obviously, but I will write about other ships, if requested as long as I think I can give you the best work possible. LUCAYA, RIARKLE, JOSHAYA, ZAYA, or any sort of triangles are the ones that I'll write without question but a FAYA or a RUCAS story are most likely not going to be written by me, solely because I don't think I can ignore my biases on the subject. Anyways, this song is by Kate Voegele and was featured in the show ONE TREE HILL. This tells the story of LUCAYA from Lucas's point of view, from the moment they met, until the second they got together.**_

* * *

Lucas Friar could remember the first time he had met her.

He'd spotted her long before she had finally walked over to him. As a matter of fact, he had noticed the beautiful girl with her pretty best friend as soon as she had stepped onto the subway cart.

She appeared confident, full of a mysterious air that interested Lucas to no end. She was leading the leggy brunette, something that Lucas would soon realize happened on a daily basis, with the blonde beauty taking charge and leading the way at all times. She was the one who got the ball rolling and caused everything to happen.

If Maya Hart didn't push Riley Matthews into doing something, the brunette would never take a chance. Nothing interesting would ever happen to her, because she would allow her own fear to take over. She would allow her fear of consequences cause her to live playing an eternal game of "what if". That was why Riley needed Maya-she needed somebody to push her off of the edge and force her to take a chance.

But Lucas needed somebody like Maya in his life-somebody unafraid to come right up to him and keep him from holding onto his secrets.

He had known that it was going to be Maya for the rest of his life from the second the blonde had approached him, a mocking smile on her face with an adorable dimple digging into her cheek. Her blue eyes sparkled as her hair fell wildly around her beautiful, heart-shaped face with the full lips that Lucas was already fantasizing over kissing.

"Hi," the blonde chirped, her voice low and sultry.

She wrapped her tiny hands around the long, silver pole of the subway and twirled towards him, spinning around the pole in a way that would haunt Lucas's wild fantasies for the rest of his prepubescent years.

"I'm Maya," She explained, leaning her weight against the pole. "You're _really_ cute," She

observed, giving him a quick once over, nodding slightly as though she approved of exactly what she saw.

He looked at her, trying to comprehend the girl standing there before him. She was tiny-probably just about five feet tall and definitely done growing. Despite her tiny stature, she had a presence that dominated any area that she was in. The entire subway cart seemed to be ruled by her. And every single set of eyes on that cart had glanced over at her at least once.

"We should hang out sometime!" She suggested, eyes lighting up at the idea. "You make me happy," She continued quickly, refusing to give him a second to answer her question.

He grinned, finally noticing the brunette standing before the blonde, her eyes locked

eagerly on the scene before her as she watched the pair with interest. Her intense, brown eyes were wide with wonder as she watched them, her full red lips parted slightly.

"You don't pay enough attention to me," the blonde pouted, demanding his full attention once again.

He panicked, looking at her with wide eyes, wondering if this incredible blonde thought

that the smile he had just released was because of the brunette, rather than the amusement of everything that the blonde was saying. He didn't want to ever upset her. He didn't want her to think that she was his second choice-because he was positive that it was always going to be this blonde beauty who called herself Maya.

"This isn't working," She explained, throwing her hands up in the air.

At some point during her speech, she had taken a seat besides him. Her close proximity

Caused him to be completely speechless. Their knees were touching and his fourteen-year-old self was excited by that much contact with a beautiful girl.

"It's you, not me," She declared, jumping to her feet. "We can still be friends," She told him turning around to head back towards her friend. "Not really," She made a face over her shoulder before officially walking away from him.

He had no idea what had just happened, but he didn't mind the interruption in his morning. He didn't care at all, because this girl was a mystery to him. And she was a mystery that he wanted to solve.

He wanted to learn all that there was to learn about her. He was more than willing to dedicate the rest of his life to figuring out all there was to learn about Maya Hart. He wanted to know what made her angry, what made her sad, what made her happy. And he wanted to learn how to keep her from feeling pain and what he had to do to bring joy to her life.

All he wanted to know was where she was heading that day. He wanted to know what she would be doing for the rest of her life and how he could become a part of it.

She confused him just as much as the world of sky scrapers he had just entered, but just like how he was determined to figure out his new home, he was going to make sure that one day, he knew Maya Hart better than anybody else did. He would understand her better than she knew herself-better than he was sure that brunette knew her.

It didn't matter how complicated Maya was to an outsider. He was going to figure her out if it was the last thing he did.

It was all he wanted-to be the one to conquer Maya Hart. Not in a sexual way, but in a mental way. He wanted to understand who she truly was. He wanted to be able to explain her to other people. He wanted to be able to comprehend her and know the hidden meaning behind everything she said and did. He could tell that she always had an ulterior motive to everything that she did and he wanted to be able to know what that motive was for her every action.

And eventually? He learned how to predict her. He learned who she was. He learned how to understand her. He became a master of all things Maya Hart.

It hadn't taken him very long, of course.

From the second he saw her give the brunette a slight shove, causing her to tumble into his lap, he had understood the way the girl's mind worked. From that moment, his first meeting with her, he had started to understand exactly what type of a girl Maya Hart was.

She was beautiful. She was loyal. She was loving and compassionate and kind. She was talented and generous and insecure, yet confident at the same time. She was mature and she was experienced. And that was why Maya felt like she owed Riley.

She didn't believe that she deserved a friend like Riley. She believed that she was broken and that Riley was this perfect girl who blessed Maya Hart with her friendship. Riley gave her an idea of what a family truly should be, sharing her parents with her. She shared her brother with her. She shared her entire family with her and everything that Riley had, also belonged to Maya.

In return, Maya gave Riley all that she felt she had to offer her. She gave her protection from the harsh realities of the world. She had created the Riley Committee to allow Riley to live in a world where everything was rainbows and butterflies. She made sure Riley was happy no matter what happened. She made sure that Riley always got her way. And she made sure that Riley was always prepared for what was to come her way. She taught her important life lessons, so that Riley was able to truly experience life and all that life had to offer her. Maya took the risks at first, to test the waters, and then she went Riley on her way.

She never tried to share the spotlight. She just allowed her best friend to have it. Because that was who Maya Hart was.

* * *

Maya had determined what position Lucas would play in her life.

Lucas knew that he would never be allowed to voice his own thoughts on what role he should have in Maya's life, because the blonde didn't really care about what it was that he wanted. The blonde didn't even care about what it was that she wanted. Because the first thing that Lucas learned about Maya Hart was that she was always going to put Riley Matthews first.

Whether it was Riley's happiness, her safety, her integrity, her purity-it didn't matter what part of Riley it was. Maya was always going to put Riley before herself, because Maya believed that she did not deserve to have anything in life if Riley did not have it for herself, and in a slightly better format.

He had known that about her since the day he had met her. It was part of the reason that he loved her so much. It was the first thing he had noticed about her and truly loved about her, so how could he fault her for it?

So, Maya and Lucas had become the best of friends.

They had their inside jokes.

Maya referred to him as "Huckleberry", "Ranger Rick", "Sundance," "Hop Along" and so many other ridiculous things. She got up close to his face and shouted HA-HURR as though that were the way that he actually talked.

Lucas played up his country twang and all of his southern mannerism. He told her about every stereotypical thing he had done back in Texas and all about his Pappy Joe, just so that she could snicker at the name. He lovingly referred to his mother as "Momma", because he knew that it would humor her.

She swore that she would break him, one day. He assured her that he couldn't wait for that day to arrive. She acted as though she couldn't stand him, putting up with him only because her other friends wanted him to be a part of their group. He pretended that hearing her say things like that didn't hurt her.

They had their relationship and it was perfectly established.

But, it wasn't perfect. No relationship was perfect, after all.

There were times when she slipped up. When she'd stare at him just a bit too long when they were all hanging out in a group. Moments when he would give her a compliment and she would look at him, unable to hide her smile and the way her cheeks tinted the slightest shade of pink. The moments when their hands or their knees would brush and neither one of them was able to ignore the sparks between the pair of them.

Every now and then, she would even allow a compliment to slip out. And while he always chose to ignore the kind words she said to him, knowing what would happen to him if he dared bring it up after it happened, those moments were the ones he lived for. He loved those kind words from her and every one was cherished and locked away, kept for only himself.

Yes, they had their set roles. They were the best of friends and they drove one another absolutely crazy, but they cared for one another all the same.

And somewhere along the development of their friendship, it was established that Riley and Lucas were a couple.

Actually, he knew exactly when that moment had happened. It had been decided as soon as Riley had fallen into his lap on the subway and everybody was supposed to believe it was an act of fate.

Of course, Maya knew the truth. She knew that she had been the spark that started the fire when she had pushed Riley right into his lap.

Riley knew, no matter how hard she tried to pretend that she didn't know. She was well aware of the fact that she hadn't fallen because it was what fate had wanted. Maya had pushed her, timing it perfectly and the universe had not been involved at all.

The girls didn't know it, but Lucas knew as well. He had seen what Maya had done and it had been the first on a long list of things that he loved about her. And he would never tell the girls that he knew, because telling them would mean that he had made a decision between the girls and he knew how they'd react to that.

Besides, it didn't matter what Lucas thought of Riley and every single time he tried to act outside of his designated role, he was reminded of what he was supposed to be doing. He was supposed to be Riley's boyfriend, because that was what the brunette wanted and that was what the blonde was going to ensure that she got.

It didn't matter what Maya knew the truth, that Riley only liked Lucas like she would like a brother. Because Riley wasn't aware that she felt that way, yet. Maya wasn't going to push Riley into taking on knowledge that she wasn't ready to hear, so she allowed Riley to live in a fantasy world.

Even though it was clear to everybody at this point that Maya loved Lucas, it didn't change anything. Riley had declared it for everybody to hear, that Maya had feelings for Lucas. She had decided that she would step back and she had been trying her damn best to do so. But, Maya wasn't going down without a fight.

Lucas had tried. He had tried everything he could imagine to change Maya's mind. He had tried to talk to her at that campfire, learning the truth and trying to figure out the best way to tell her the truth about his own feelings.

But, when he had taken her face in his hands and made a movement to kiss her, he had seen the fear in her eyes.

She was terrified of being with him. She was so worried about what could happen to the both of them if she acted on her feelings. She was scared that she would lose Riley. And she was afraid of Lucas leaving her, realizing that she wasn't what he wanted.

He knew that the last of her fears would never become a reality. He wanted to assure her that she had no reason to fear the two of them being together. But, he couldn't promise that Riley would stay with her forever and he would not risk Maya losing Riley. Because he wasn't sure what would happen to his blonde beauty if she lost the brunette.

So, it didn't really matter that Lucas wanted the blonde. It didn't matter what he would prefer, because he had been given a role and he had to play it.

He promised Maya that he would never hurt her, and it would destroy her to see Riley's happiness crushed. So, the solution was to do whatever it was that Maya asked him to do. And what she wanted was for Lucas to stay exactly where he was, continuing to play the role that was assigned to him.

That was what had been determined after the entire Texas-Scandal, when she had told him that all she wanted was for things to stop.

So, that's what he was doing, but he vowed that he was going to jump at the chance to be with her as soon as the next opportunity arose. As soon as Riley released him, he was going to race to wherever Maya was and declare his undying love for her.

She might not believe him, when he said that one day they'd be together, but she could choose to live in a fantasy. He meant every single word he said to her, especially the ones about how he felt about her. About the way that she made him feel. And she could just take his word for that.

* * *

One day.

One chance.

That was all that Lucas had asked for and that was all that Maya had ever given him. She had told him as much while it was happening-she had told him when she had agreed to the meeting in the first place. And she had told him again when their plans were over.

He had surprised her with tickets to a Broadway show for her birthday during their freshman year-a treat and an apology for the love triangle that she had been forced into.

For the love triangle that she had ended. He hadn't had the courage to end it and he had risked losing the girl that he loved forever by prolonging it. And Riley had been too terrified of it ending to ever do anything to make it end. She was terrified of what Lucas's choice would be, so she was content with Lucas refusing to decide.

Which was why Maya had ruined everything, when he had finally gotten the final bit of courage needed to push him over the edge.

"You make a decision about us yet?" Maya asked, grabbing onto his shirt and pulling him close to her, their noses brushing just a bit and their lips close enough for him to breathe in her peach-flavored lip gloss.

"I did," He smiled, his green eyes locked on hers.

He knew that she knew what that smile meant. He knew that she was fully aware that he was about to pick her. And he knew that it terrified her.

Which was why he knew, as soon as she released his shirt, pushing him away from her and her expression changed, that he wasn't going to like what she was about to say.

"Well, it doesn't matter," She rolled her eyes.

"Of course it matters!" Farkle exclaimed, eyes growing as wide as saucers as his jaw dropped nearly to the floor in shock.

"Come on, Maya! We've been waiting for almost two years," Zay whined, slamming his head back against Riley's wall.

"It doesn't matter," Maya snapped, glaring at the boys. "It doesn't matter," She said softly, flashing a smile towards her best friend. "Because he picked Riley," she whispered.

"What?" Riley's jaw dropped even wider than Farkle's own. And then she turned to look at Maya in confusion, a bit of hurt in her eyes.

"How do you know?" She asked, as though accusing Maya of something.

But, before anybody could answer or Lucas could take back control of the situation, Riley's excited smile was back in place and her arms were wound around Maya's waist, pining her arms to the side as she hugged her friend tightly, celebrating the news.

"YAY!" She shrieked. "I'm so sorry, Maya," She said, a bit of concern for her friend filling her eyes, but it disappeared as soon as she saw the content smile on Maya's face. "YAY!"

Lucas stared at her, trying to understand what she had just said.

"It doesn't matter who you picked, because either way, you picked Riley," Maya explained, squirming out of Riley's hold.

Her eyes were locked of Lucas's and it was clear that she was scolding him, ordering him to believe every word that was about to come out of her mouth. Because she was giving him a way out of this triangle-giving them both a way out. And she knew that it was only going to make Riley truly happy, but that was all that she cared about.

"If you picked Riley, you picked her," Maya explained. "But, if you picked me…well, you picked Riley, because that's how I've been acting recently," She shrugged.

"What do you want?" Lucas wondered, staring at her and praying that she would finally speak her mind.

"I need to figure out how I feel about you, acting like myself," Maya told him, flashing him a small smile that gave him just enough hope.

Which was why it didn't matter that he was dating Riley at the time-that Maya had told him that he was picking Riley, so he had agreed to picking Riley. He still wanted Maya and he was going to have a taste of having her if it killed him-which he was sure there was a fair chance of it doing, because she wasn't known to hold back when it came to Riley's potentially being hurt.

It had rained that day and they had gotten to the city early in the day, so that Maya could work on some art projects with a few different subjects than what she had access to closer to home.

They had been standing on the corner of Broadway and 48th street, after finally giving into the horrible rain that day and trying to hail a cab, when their moment finally happened. He had been offering all day, but she had refused because she didn't want him to spend that type of money and he had forced her to leave her wallet at home, vouching that the entire day was on him.

"Thank you," Maya blurted out suddenly, shocking him from the silence they'd been in since their hands had briefly brushed one another's when they had left Madison Square Garden about thirty minutes ago.

"What?"

He was grateful that she was talking to him-that she had finally broken the silence. Because he had no idea what to say to her. If he spoke, it was going to be about one of their many moments together, and that would just make everything worse. So, he had endured the excruciating silence.

What shocked him, though, was the fact that she had thanked him for something. And he had no idea what it was that she was thanking him from.

"Thank you for picking Riley-for staying with her. For doing what I asked," She whispered, lowering her head as her voice got softer with every word that she spoke.

"You know I'd do anything to make you happy," He told her, stuffing his hands in his pockets, staring at the ground.

"You always make me happy, Ranger Rick," she blushed, cheeks tinted that beautiful shade of pale pink they turned whenever he said something that she thought was inappropriate and drifted outside of their "just friends" boundaries.

"I don't get why you always put her first, you know," Lucas said, interrupting the small span of silence that passed between them, kicking at the ground below him and hating the concrete jungle he had been forced into.

The only thing that made him happy about being transported to New York was that he had met Maya Hart as a result.

"You just wouldn't understand," Maya rolled her eyes, reaching up to twist her hair up into a messy bun on the top of her head, trying to save it from the horrible rain that was falling around them, despite the umbrella Lucas had purchased for them.

"Try me," He challenged.

He knew that she wasn't going to say anything more. She would never try to explain it, because she knew that it wouldn't make any sense to anybody but herself. She knew that it didn't even make sense in her own mind.

But, she should know that he would try to understand. He would try to make it all make sense, because he wanted nothing more than to understand her and her every feeling. If he could figure out the way that her brain worked, especially in regards to this whole Riley mess, he might be able to get her to put herself first for once. He might be able to save the blonde beauty from herself.

"You're an amazing guy, Lucas," she said, using his first name which meant that their conversation was going to be serious. "Any girl would be lucky to have you," she said honestly.

"You could be that girl, Maya," he pointed out.

"I _can't!"_ Maya insisted.

"Why?"

"Because you know that Riley's in love with you, Huckleberry and if you're going to act like the Huckleberry that I know you are, you're not going to just dump her for her best friend. You would never break either of our hearts, would you? So, one of us had to decide and Riley made it clear she was going to fight for you. She told me she would fight for you, and she never tells me that she's going to fight for anything. How could I, the person who taught her to fight for what she believes in, try to stop her from doing that? So, I stepped aside," Maya glared at him, arms crossed tightly over her chest as she spoke to him.

"What happens if, after a year, I can't bring myself to feel the same way for her as I feel about you?" Lucas asked, staring at her intently.

"Then you can break up with her. You can make up whatever excuse you need. And then you wait a little bit. You talk to her about everything and you make sure she's okay, and then we can give it a shot," she said, flashing him a small smile.

Lucas grinned, counting that as a success.

It was an invitation into a deeper part of her world.

"But, just remember that I'm not a Southern Belle, and I'm never going to be one. I'm a city girl, born and raised," she smirked.

"What's that got to do with you and me?"

"Are you sure you can handle that? We're polar opposites."

"Well, ma'am, I hate to disappoint you, but I could make a damn good city boy," he said,

tipping an imaginary cowboy hat towards her.

Because if the fact that they were polar opposites was the only thing that was keeping Maya from being with him, he would do whatever it took to become as similar to her as possible. If that's what it took for their relationship to blossom, he would do it.

* * *

"I know that you want to be with me," Lucas declared, storming into Maya's bedroom and slamming the door shut behind him. "So why are you continuing to lie to me and to yourself?"

"I'm not lying," Maya insisted, shaking out her hair so that the strands falling from her messy bun fell into her face, creating a shield between the two of them while she worked at her easel in the brightest corner of her room.

Ever since their conversation in the city, Maya had started to distance herself from him. Especially when he was going to be with Riley. And whenever she was forced to be around the couple, she was so far from being herself. It didn't take a genius to figure out that something was wrong with Maya and Lucas knew right away what the problem was.

She was heartbroken, watching her best friend with the boy that she loved. She was torn, forcing Lucas to be with Riley, because she knew that it was just making them all miserable in the long run.

"Don't act all shy and innocent. Don't try to pretend that you have no idea what you're doing," He demanded.

Maya continued to paint, ignoring Lucas's shouts.

Lucas hated when she did that. Whenever she started to act like this, he just got angry. It wouldn't make him hate her, of course, and that made it even worse. He knew that she was only doing it because she thought that the meaner she was to him-the more she ignored him-the closer he would come to hating her.

But that would never happen. He would never leave her and he would never hate her. He was never going to get over her. Even if he went his whole life never having a chance with her, she would forever remain in his heart. She was going to be the one that got away, unless he ended up with a chance with her. And if he did, he was never going to let her go. He was certain about that one.

"Ranger Rick, just knock it off. I've been busy, so I've been a little absent lately. It's not for any particular reason," she rolled her eyes, but kept her hair in her face, even though he knew that she despised the way her hair messed up her artwork, obstructing her view.

He didn't know why she seemed to ignore the fact that he knew her better than anybody else. It bothered him sometimes, the way she didn't even seem to notice all of the extra attention he had paid her since he met her. She was well aware of the fact that she knew him better than any of his other friends, including Zay, yet she was so naïve to the fact that he knew her better than anybody else could ever dream of knowing her.

"You don't have to be so strong around me. Take down those ridiculous walls you put up around you. This stupid false anxiety bullshit you're trying to give me isn't working," he rolled his eyes, dropping down onto her bed.

"You should be with your girlfriend right now. Do you give her this much attention?" Maya replied.

From the way her grip tightened around her paint brush, Lucas knew that Maya regretted her question. He could tell she held a bit of bitterness towards the brunette, because she had referred to her as his "girlfriend" rather than by her name. But, the whitening knuckles around the thin brush indicated that she knew the answer to his question and hadn't wanted him to confirm it.

So, he didn't.

He ignored the question, just like he was ignoring all the rest of her attempts to get him to change the subject.

"What do I have to do to make you mine? To make you realize how perfect we are together?" he wondered.

She threw her paint brush to the ground, the excess blue paint flying from the bristles and splattering the hard wood floor around her easel. She didn't pay it a second glance as she whirled around, pushing her hair from her face.

"I'm terrified, Lucas! Why can't you see that?" She blurted out.

"What are you afraid of?"

"I'm afraid of losing Riley. I know that if I tell you that I love you just as much as you love me, we're going to be together. And that's something that neither of us will ever end, because we're both terrified of losing one another. Of hurting the other one. But, I'm even more terrified of losing Riley and if you and I are together, I lose my best friend," Maya snapped.

"What kind of friend expects you to ignore your own happiness?"

"She doesn't! She has no idea that I love you, Lucas!"

"How is it possible that she doesn't know? I know, and Farkle knows and Isadora knows and even Zay knows! Everybody knows and she's supposed to know you better than you know yourself, so tell me how it's possible that she doesn't know!" Lucas snapped, his voice raising and he had to fight the urge to yell at her, because he had always sworn he would never yell at her.

"Because I won't tell her! She's asked me and I've lied to her about it!"

"How does she not know that you're lying?"

"Because…because…I don't know!"

"I'll tell you why! Because she doesn't want to know. So she's living in the same fantasy world that you're living in," Lucas accused.

"I don't want her to know, Lucas. Because if she knew that I loved you, rather than it just being the same silly crush that she has on you, this entire thing would be different. But I'm never going to tell her that, because she told me the other day that she's in love with you!" she yelled, not even bothering to control her volume.

"So what? Why do Riley's feelings mean more than yours?"

"Because my job is to protect her!"

"Being her best friend doesn't make you her guardian!"

"You should be trying to protect her, too! You're her boyfriend," Maya accused, the final word coming out like a harsh accusation, a nasty tinge of bitterness clinging to the two syllables as though it belonged there-as though it were a part of the word and its pronunciation and even its meaning.

"Because you told me that I had to be, Maya," Lucas snapped, jumping to his feet.

He couldn't sit there anymore and listen to the accusations. He had to do something. He had to end this nonsense once and for all. It didn't even matter to him if he lost both girls. It wouldn't change his current situation-secretly pining over Maya from a distance. In fact, it would make life easier on him because all of the guilt he felt for longing for his girlfriend's best friend would be gone.

He would be free to watch Maya and lust after her all that he wanted. To his heart's desire. He could fantasize about her and dream and imagine what it would be like. But, he wouldn't be picturing the blonde beauty rather than his brunette girlfriend, which would make him feel a lot better about himself.

"Lucas, I'm not just terrified of losing Riley," Maya said, staring at him. "Everybody leaves me eventually, you know that. I'm terrified of you and how strongly I feel about you. Because even though I know that you'll never leave me, I can't help but be afraid of losing you," she admitted.

"If fear were money, you'd be a god damn billionaire, you know that, right?" He snorted, unable to hide his bitter amusement at her admission. "But all that money? You'd still be alone, just like you are now, left in this big comfy chair by a fire place surrounded by all of this artwork that doesn't mean anything to you while you count your stacks of money," he was sure that his eyes were dark, as he said these hurtful words he didn't mean and could never take back.

"Maybe I'm just destined to be alone," Maya challenged.

That was when Lucas had finally had enough.

He crossed the room, reaching her in four quick steps. He grabbed her face in his hands, pulling her close to him and pressing his lips against her own, claiming her mouth in a kiss. It was her first kiss, he knew that to be true, and he didn't care that he had been gifted Riley's first kiss and was currently stealing away Maya's.

All that he could focus on were her soft lips, pressed against his own. Her beautiful mouth so close to his, finally silent from something that he had said.

Throughout their entire game, the challenge had been when she would break him. Nobody had ever expected that Lucas would be the one to break her-to leave her at a loss for words. Neither one of them would have predicted that moment.

Lucas didn't even care that he was cheating on his girlfriend. Riley was the furthest thing from his mind, because all he wanted to focus on was Maya, the beautiful blonde that he was kissing like he had never been kissed before.

That moment, he was sure of it, should have been his first kiss.

A part of him hated Riley for stealing that kiss from him. For grabbing his face and pulling him close and claiming his first kiss right on the subway for anybody to see. He hated that she had done that without any regard for what he may have wanted.

But, he knew that he couldn't be too bitter, because he had stolen Maya's in a similar fashion. Sure, there was nobody around to see the moment and he was sure that Maya would never broadcast this story proudly for all to hear, but it was happening. It was similar to the moment by the campfire, all those years ago, but it was different as well.

He could have taken her first kiss then. Ended all of this nonsense before it started. But, he didn't do that because he didn't want to take Maya's first kiss unless he was certain that was what she wanted.

If he had done it then, however, there would be no guilt. Riley had no claim over him and he wouldn't be a cheater. Maya wouldn't be a homewrecker.

But, now, Lucas just didn't care.

He no longer cared about Riley or her feelings or her claims over him. He didn't care that she was his girlfriend and that he was betraying her. He didn't even want to remember that the girl existed, because all she had done was prolonged this moment for him.

And he really didn't care about whether or not Maya was ready to act on her feelings for him, because he just couldn't wait any longer. She never had to kiss him again after this. She never had to speak to him again. This was his final attempt to make things work for the both of them, and if it failed, he would admit defeat.

But, until he knew for sure that he was going to have to do that, he was going to savor every last second of this kiss.

* * *

"I broke up with Riley."

The words were stated clearly and firmly. There wasn't a single ounce of regret in his voice as he told her.

"What?"

The beautiful blonde whirled around, the dark blue oil pastel she'd been using dropping to the ground as she turned her focus away from her easel. Her hair had been tossed up into a careless ponytail, telling Lucas that she had started her masterpiece as soon as the idea had struck her. By this point, so many pieces had fallen out of the ponytail that she was wipped in the face by her curls and the ponytail holder itself only held about five inches of her long, wild mane. Her face was smudged with various shades of blue marks, from where she had tried to fix her hair or rub at her eyes. And she was dressed in a pair of grey, plaid flannel pajama shorts with a navy blue, fitted racer back tank top that had ridden up just enough.

He had never seen her look better in his life, because this was the true Maya Hart. The girl that so few people got to truly know. But, he had studied long and hard in order to earn this right. To be allowed to stare at her in her natural state. To know the way that her mind worked.

"I broke up with Riley," he repeated, stuffing his hands in his pockets as he stared sheepishly at the ground.

He wasn't ashamed of himself for showing up at her house immediately after his breakup with her best friend. He wasn't feeling guilty for being the one to tell her, before Riley had a chance to inform her. And he didn't regret what he had done-not even a little bit.

The only reason his head was lowered was because he knew that Maya was going to be upset with him. He knew that she was going to immediately jump into panic mode and have no idea how to handle the situation. He knew that she would be a loss for how to process the information that she had just received.

"You can't be here," She blurted out, blue eyes filling with panic as she raced towards her closet, pulling open the door and cringing just a bit as it creaked.

"What?"

"You just broke up with my best friend. And that means that she's either going to show up at my door in ten minutes, or I'm going to get a phone call in thirty seconds to tell me about what happened. And when that happens, you can't be here," She said frantically, grabbing for a grey, pin-stripped, boyfriend blazer with a navy, sweatshirt material hood.

"Maya, calm down."

"I _can't_ calm down, Huckleberry! You just broke up with Riley and she _needs_ me and you can't be here for that. Don't you understand what you've done?" She stared at him with pleading eyes as she grabbed a pair of light denim shorts and swapped them out for her pajama shorts, disappearing into the closet to make the change.

"She's not going to call you," Lucas rolled his eyes.

"Are you _stupid?_ I'm her _best friend._ Of course she's going to call me!" Maya hurried out of the closet, tripping over herself in her effort to slip on a pair of navy blue flip-flops.

"No, she isn't, because she's with Farkle," Lucas replied.

"What?" Maya froze, eyes growing wide.

"She's with Farkle," He explained.

"How long ago did this break up occur?" Maya asked, turning around to face him with an eyebrow raising in the air.

"About….an hour?" Lucas shrugged his shoulders, hands still in his pocket.

"An _hour?_ She told Farkle before she told me…. what exactly did you say to her when this whole thing happened?" Maya crossed her arms over her chest.

"I…uh…. well, I told her that I couldn't pretend anymore, and she said that she was wondering how long it would take me to come clean about the entire situation. And then I asked her what she meant and she told me that she always knew I wanted to be with you, and she was glad that I was finally doing something about it. Then, she told me to go and get you. And she called Farkle while I was leaving," He explained, tints flushing a bit as he realized what he had done.

"You told Riley that you have feelings for me? You told your girlfriend that you had feelings for her best friend?" Maya gasped.

"I wasn't going to lie to her when I broke up with her," Lucas rolled his eyes.

"She's going to hate me!"

"She's not going to hate you. You didn't do anything, Maya."

"I can't be with you."

"Why?"

"Because she's my best friend!"

"She called Farkle because she loves him!"

"Well he's with Smackle!"

"Not if he can have Riley!"

"That's _wrong!_ That's not how relationships work. People don't just get together because they can't have the person they really want. That's awful!" Maya snapped, yanking off the jacket and throwing it across the room.

"But it's what does happen, Maya," Lucas explained patiently.

"This is somehow all my fault, isn't it?" She wondered, lowering her head.

"Smackle and Farkle got together long before you pushed me to be with Riley," Lucas shook his head, refusing to let her feel guilty.

"Why me?" Maya asked, wrapping her arms around herself to hug herself for a little bit of support.

"Because it's always been you, Maya," Lucas whispered, taking a cautious step towards the beautiful blonde.

"Farkle said that he always loved the both of us equally and that he would never choose, because it meant he would lose one of us. He said that not picking was the best thing that he ever did. So…why are you picking?" Maya cocked an eyebrow, a bit of her usual attitude coming back.

"Because I have to choose, because Farkle's a genius and I'm an idiot with a face," He smirked.

"An idiot with a face? That's not really what I see you as," Maya said, making a face as she loosened up the tight grip she had on herself, resolving to just keep her arms crossed instead.

"Oh yeah? What do you see me as?" He took another step towards her, immediately drawn into the game that they were playing, even if he didn't know the rules.

"Hmmm…well, you're a bit of a Huckleberry," She said playfully, taking a small step towards him.

"That all?" He wondered, cocking an eyebrow at her.

"Well, you're a Hop Along and a Sundance, too," She smirked, unhooking her arms as she took a few more steps towards him, stopping when she was right in front of him, her face only inches from his chest.

"That all you got?"

"A bit of a Ranger Rick," She observed, looking up at him thoughtfully.

"That the best that you got?" He wondered, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, one more thing," She said, as though the idea had just occurred to her.

"And what would that be?" He smirked.

She grinned, taking a deep breath and moving her face in closer to his, rising up to her tip-toes as she released the breath.

"HA-HURRRR!"

And then Lucas had her face in his hands, leaning down to capture her lips with is own, one hand slowly sliding down to her waist and resting there. Her arms shot up, locking around his neck as she held on tightly. He took a few steps closer to her, laughing against the kiss as she began to trip, trying to back up while he walked. He finally reached his destination, pushing her up against the wall.

He moved his hands, lying them flat against the wall behind her and pressed his forehead against hers as the pair tried to catch their breaths. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were sparkling in a way that he had never seen them before. And he could feel the intensity and fire radiating from his dark green eyes as he stared at her, wondering if this was to be his last chance with her, or if it was just the beginning.

"How did you know? All of this time?" She wondered, the words coming out hitched and breathless.

"You were a mystery to me, from the day that I met you," He told her. "You were as confusing to me as this new city I was tossed into. And I was sure that there was no way I was ever going to know all there was to know about you. But, I wanted to try," He explained.

"I don't understand," She frowned.

"On the outside…you appeared absolutely perfect. Like you were totally put together. And the more I got to know about you…the more complicated you became. The closer I got to you, the harder it seemed to figure you out," He sighed.

"You took the time to get to know me," Maya whispered.

"I did…and it was worth it. It was absolutely worth it," He promised her, flashing her that earnest grin that he had given her the first time she had seen him on the subway.

And then she was pulling his face down to hers again, kissing him hungrily, as though finally getting all of her feelings out in the open.

Yes, Maya Hart had always been his Manhattan from the sky-the girl who seemed so perfect, until you got a closer look and realized what a mess she was inside. But, if somebody took the time to really get to know her, they would realize that it was well worth all of the effort. And Lucas was so glad that he had taken that time, because this kiss-this amazing girl-was his reward.


	2. Joey is a Punk Rocker

**Scream Me a Love Song  
A Collection of Song Fics  
No.2 Joey Is a Punk Rocker**

 _ **A/N: Just a fun little idea that I've been toying with, based on a Broadway show tune I heard earlier this year.**_

* * *

Maya Hart had a serious problem.

It was the bane of her existence and it kept her in a near state of depression. In fact, it affected her so much that her best friend, Riley Matthews, refused to drop the issue.

But, Maya could never let anybody know what was eating her alive inside, because her secret was that she had a crush on a beautiful guy. A boy who was sweet and gorgeous and sexy and mysterious-but the exact opposite of Maya, her friends, and everything that she stood for.

So, nobody could ever know how she felt about this amazing boy.

She was a straight A student. She maintained her position on the honor roll every time report cards rolled around and everybody knew that she was a girl genius. She may have struggled in middle school, but by the time high school rolled around, she was a genius. Especially with the help of her best friend.

She was on the cheerleading team, because of Riley, who had forced her to keep attending tryouts with her. She was one of the captains, sharing the position with Riley, as she shared everything with her best friend.

And she was one of the most popular girls in school. She and Riley ruled the school with an iron fist and did everything in their power to maintain the status quo. For Maya threatening to be the one to break the normality of their high school's structure…well, it was blasphemy.

It was absolutely wrong for Maya to like this boy and she knew it. Despite whatever had happened in middle school, things were different now and that much should be clear to the lot of them.

Even if she had the courage to go and tell him how she felt and even if he felt the same way, things wouldn't be okay for them. If they even attempted to go out together, once they were spotted as a pair, Maya's friends would freak out. They would cause a High School Musical worthy riot in the middle of the cafeteria, urging everybody to stick to the status quo.

And Maya's mother?

She'd probably die from shock if Maya tried to bring this boy home.

It was easier for everybody if Maya just pushed aside her feelings and hoped that, eventually, they would go away. If she prayed that she would find somebody else. This had to be just a phase.

Still….all she really wanted to do was ask him if he actually liked her back, or, if he thought that she was a boring, spoiled little princess with a stick up her butt. Because she was positive that this boy thought nothing of her. Nothing positive, if he even bothered to think of her at all.

Maya didn't even care what his response was.

All of her hopes for moving on and forgetting about him were for naught, because no matter what he really thought of her, she was never going to be able to take her eyes off of that…well, different kind of "Mr. Right".

He had caught her eye because he was different from what she was used to, and that was more than enough to keep her interested. She was bored with her life, with how routine every day felt. She wanted something to add some interest to it, and a love affair with a boy like that would definitely stir up some trouble.

Maya longed for excitement. She had _always_ longed for excitement. When she had changed in order to keep Riley as a part of her life and fit into Riley's new world once high school had started and their group had been torn apart, she had given up that excitement in exchange for a title.

Now, she just wanted that excitement back in her life.

* * *

"You have a crush on somebody!"

Riley shouted out the words excitedly as the two girls sat in the brunette's bay window, discussing all of life's important issues.

"What?" Maya gasped, glancing up from where she had been focusing her attention, painting her toe nails.

"You have a crush on somebody, and that's why you've been acting so weird," Riley accused, an excited and quirky grin on her face with a knowing sparkle to her eyes.

Maya should have known she wouldn't be able to keep her secret from Riley for long. The brunette knew her better than she knew herself. She knew absolutely anything and everything that there was to know about Maya, just as the blonde knew all there was to know about the brunette.

It was crazy for Maya to have assumed that the secret could be kept from Riley. She had to be stupid if she thought that Riley wouldn't figure it out. That Riley wouldn't put all of her attention and focus onto the issue as she tried to figure out what could possibly be bugging her best friend and affecting her in such a negative way. Because that was how Riley was-she refused to let anything go, and Maya had to accept that fact. She had accepted it, long ago.

"I do," Maya admitted, lowering her head.

The thing was…Maya could lie to Riley. As long as Riley couldn't see Maya's face and she controlled her voice, Riley would never assume that Maya wasn't being completely honest with her.

Maya knew how to play the game and she was going to play the game. She was going to make sure that everything was okay for her, because she needed to protect this secret. Because Riley finding out the truth would be worse than anybody else learning her secret.

"Who? Tell me about him! Give me hints and if I guess right, you'll tell me?" Riley asked, lining the game up perfectly without Maya needing to put in any effort.

"His hair is…. dark," Maya said, choosing to use that word over greasy or full of an excess amount of product.

"What else?"

"He paints his nails black," Maya said, an amused smirk on her face.

"You're funny, Maya," Riley giggled. "But give me serious hints! I want to know who it is!" she whined.

"Well, he wears dog tags and he has patches on his backpack," Maya said honestly, knowing that those hints could define a large amount of boys at their school and many who were suitable for her, according to her group of friends.

"That's every guy at school!"

"He swears a lot," Maya observed, focusing on her nails.

She chose to leave out the fact that he smoked, because it wasn't like this boy was any good at the habit, usually hacking himself to death before he got in a second puff. Besides, it would just lead to a lecture from Riley about the dangers of second hand smoke and how disgusting it was to date a boy who partook in such a habit.

"Maya, you give the vaguest descriptions," Riley rolled her eyes, slamming her head back against the window and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Riley, it doesn't even matter, okay?" Maya said, looking up at her best friend with a comforting smile. "Because it's just a crush and it's not going to lead to anything, ever. It's a meaningless little crush."

She was lying through her teeth, because the truth was that she was head over heels in love. She was crazy in love with this boy.

And it sucked that she couldn't even share the joys of her first love with her best friend. She hated the fact that she couldn't proclaim the news for all to hear. Because she really wanted to tell the world about it, but she knew what the response would be.

So, it didn't matter that she was in love. Nobody could ever know.

"Peaches…is this a guy that you think I'll get upset about you liking?" Riley asked suspiciously, as if she had just broken some sort of secret code.

"What?" Maya's head shot up, cursing under her breath as she smudged her nail polish due to the sudden movement.

"Are you afraid of telling me who this guy is? Because I'm not going to be angry with you. You can't control your feelings, Peaches," Riley laughed, as though she thought Maya was being absolutely ridiculous for acting in such a way.

"You seriously wouldn't care if it wasn't somebody from our group?" Maya asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Peaches!" Riley squealed. "How could I deny you your first love?" she fawned, grabbing a pillow and hugging it close to herself.

"I am _so_ happy to hear you say that," Maya gushed.

"Besides!" Riley cut her off, stopping her from continuing. "If you and my Uncle Josh were to get married, you and I would be related and how cool would _that_ be?" Riley beamed excitedly.

Maya's head snapped snapped back up again, eyes wide as she stared at her best friend. She didn't even notice that she had messed up yet another nail with this sudden movement. She was too overcome by shock at what her best friend had just said.

"You think it's _Josh?"_ Maya wondered.

"Maya, you've been into Josh since middle school."

Maya was silent for a few seconds, rubbing at the smudged toe to wipe away the polish that had gotten on the skin around her nail.

She needed a few seconds to try to figure out what her next move should be. Because, she could play this one of two ways. She could be grateful that Riley had given her an our, claiming to be interested in Joshua Matthews, the uncle of her best friend who she had made a fool of herself over back in middle school. She knew that the admission would go nowhere, so it wouldn't cause any harm.

Or, she could tell Riley the truth. She could hope that Riley had been completely honest with her about not caring who it was that Maya was interested in. She could hold her best friend to being happy for her no matter who she had feelings for.

It would be so easy.

All she would have to do was say, "I'm in love with Lucas Friar."

But, that would be difficult.

Because Riley may not care, but that didn't mean that things would be easy for Maya once the admission was made.

No, she could not tell anybody about her crush.

Nobody could know that she was into the school's bad boy. The kid that barely ever showed up for school and was known for cutting classes. The boy that was in a band and didn't seem to care about what anybody else thought.

"Maya?"

"Yeah…yeah, I like Josh," Maya whispered, not even bothering to look up at Riley.

She knew that the brunette was never going to think she was lying.

* * *

They didn't go together at all.

There was no way that anybody could picture Lucas and Maya together.

They may have won cutest couple back in middle school, but that was before they both changed. That was a long time ago and they were two very different people now.

And now, they were polar opposites with absolutely nothing in common.

They went together about as well as fast food and Maya's mom's favorite, expensive wine. They went together like a pair of designer shoes and a dress from Walmart.

Meaning, they didn't go together at all.

She was constantly reminding herself of that. She always scolded herself, mentally, that they were never going to work out. It just wasn't possible that things would be easy for them. In fact, things would be so hard for the pair of them that they'd get sick of all of the effort it took to make stuff work out and they would fail epically.

They'd be like a reality show for their high school. Their fellow students would take bets on how long they would last with one another.

They'd become a pun. A term used whenever two opposites came together. It wouldn't be all cutesy and sweet like it was in the movies when the popular boy got together with the loser girl. Instead, it would just be weird.

"Come on, Maya," She muttered under her breathe, forcing herself to tear her eyes away from him as she sat in her history class. "Remember that this will never work. It can't _happen,"_ she scolded, squeezing her eyes shut.

She knew that she was being absolutely ridiculous. After all, Lucas Friar was on drugs and Maya was on kick line. He was the front runner for a punk rock band that played at a bar they were too young to get into and she was a cheerleader.

He walked around in a leather jacket with a fitted shirt and baggy jeans. He stomped around in loud combat boots and had chains attached to his jeans. His backpack advertised bands that terrified Maya and he wore a single dog tag around his neck, one that Maya knew was in respect to his grandfather, despite the fact that his father had served overseas as well.

Maya, meanwhile, walked around school in designer clothes. She broadcasted her cheerleading uniform every Friday with an oversized bow and a large star at the corner of her eye, highlighting the beautiful shade of blue. She wore a diamond-studded cross around her beck and her purity ring sparkled in the fluorescent lights of the school.

Her biggest act of rebellion was when she and Riley had snuck out when they turned sixteen and gotten their belly buttons pierced together.

She didn't even want to imagine what Lucas's biggest act of rebellion was. He probably didn't even have any idea of what his biggest act was, because he lived for breaking the rules.

Still…. there was something that set him apart from the other guys in Maya's life. Something other than the fact that they all threw themselves at her as though it were a challenge to try to date her.

Which it was, because Maya had never had a boyfriend, been kissed, or been on a date before.

But, Lucas was different for a different reason than the fact that he just didn't seem to show any sort of interest in her. While it drove her crazy that he acted as though she didn't exist, that wasn't what had her so focused on him. That wasn't why she was so interested in him when compared to the other boys around her.

No, the thing about Lucas was that he had this intense soul behind his dark, beautiful green eyes. If one only took the time to look past their red-rimmed, bloodshot exterior, they would see how much passion he possessed.

It was that passion-the artistic ability that Maya could see him possessing-that attracted her to him.

And that was why she was absolutely in love with the boy, despite the hardships that came with being in love with a guy that she had to keep secret. The only good thing of his hatred towards her was that she never had to worry about the pair of them having a relationship. Because if she had to have a secret relationship, she was sure she'd be driven mad.

Just keeping her crush a secret was driving her insane.

"So," Riley chirped, hooking her arm through Maya's as she met up with her in the hallways between classes. "I have exciting news for you!"

"What?" Maya groaned, already knowing what it was going to be.

"I got you a date with my Uncle Josh," Riley said happily.

"And how'd you make that happen? He thinks I'm some desperate little kid," Maya rolled her eyes.

For once, she was grateful for the fact that Josh thought Maya was as young as he viewed his niece of being. While it bugged her, ordinarily, to be viewed as a child, this time, it was working out in her favor. And she was more than happy to play it up.

"Not anymore," Riley insisted. "He thinks you're sexy!" Riley whispered as though it were a scandalous secret.

"He's three years older than us," Maya sighed.

"We're eighteen and he's twenty-one. Before, he was just worried about the law. Not anymore!" Riley started to skip.

She was so excited that she was skipping down the hallways. And because she was that excited, Maya wasn't going to be able to say no to her.

It was impossible for Maya to break her friend's spirit. And when Riley got excited about something, she believed that it was going to lead to the best for everybody. So, if Riley wanted Maya to go on this date, Maya was going to go on the date.

"You're right," Maya forced a smile, trying to ignore Lucas's glaring eyes drilling holes into the back of her head. "Where are we going?"

"This is the best part!" Riley squealed.

"What is?" Maya sighed.

"He's getting us fake ID's made! We're going out tomorrow night and we're going to that new bar downtown-the one with the different band every night?" Riley was beaming.

"Riley….you're planning on sneaking out and lying to your parents and breaking into a bar so that I can go on a date with Josh?"

"Peaches, you know that I'd do absolutely anything for you!" Riley said, wrapping her friend in a tight hug before hurrying off to her next class, leaving a shocked and confused Maya to stand there alone.

* * *

All that Maya wanted was the courage to go over and talk to Lucas.

This time, though, it wasn't because of her crush on him. This time, it was because she wanted to go and tell him off for glaring at her all day.

She could feel his harsh stare every single time she was in his general proximity. It seemed like she had been feeling it ever since she had talked to Riley with him so closely behind them in the hallway.

What she didn't understand was why he seemed to be so bothered by her potential date. He never seemed to have any interest in Maya before that, so she found it a little bit unfair that he was acting like this. After all, if he wasn't going to talk to her, he had to let her be happy.

And she knew that wasn't fair to him, because she wasn't going up to him to talk to him either. She didn't have the courage, either, so she couldn't be bitter about the fact that he wasn't making a move. Besides, his apparent anger could be for any number of reasons, most of which probably had nothing to do with her.

Besides, she really wanted the courage to take his hand and walk with him down the halls. She wanted to be able to be like all of the other girls when they liked a boy. The girls who hooked their arms through their boyfriend's arms. The girls who walked around, wrapped in their boyfriend's arms with his hand in their back pocket.

But, she couldn't be like that with Lucas. Because she wasn't brave enough to hold her head up high and strut her way down the hallway with a boy so different from her and her friends at her side, clutching onto her hand as they walked.

She wished that she had the courage. She knew that she was supposed to be one of the bravest girls in the school, and that she was being a disgrace by giving into her fear, but she couldn't help it.

So, instead, she was going to have to deal with the glares she was getting from him and never know why.

All because she was giving into her fears.

Because Maya Hart was not as confident as she had once been.

Now, she cared about what people thought of her. She worried about what they might say about her.

And she knew the negative connotation that would come from a relationship with Lucas Friar. She knew that she would be torn apart, ripped from her place on top.

She would lose absolutely everything, and that included Riley. And it didn't matter if she had true love-a boy who worshipped her and thought the world of her-if she didn't have Riley. A relationship meant nothing if there wasn't a best friend.

Riley would be there long after things with Lucas went south and she knew that. But if people pushed Maya aside and thought of her as a loser, Riley was not going to stay by her side. Riley lacked the confidence to lose her popularity. She needed her status, or else she felt like she was an absolute nobody at that school.

Maya knew everything that people said about Lucas. They made fun of him and they were downright mean to him. Yet, he didn't seem to care. He paid it no mind and didn't give it any attention. It was like the insults didn't bother him and Maya didn't know how that was possible. It didn't make any sense to her.

But, Lucas continued to do his own thing. He never resorted to violence to hurt somebody else in defense for himself. He only used his physical violence to defend other people-those who couldn't defend themselves. Because that was the type of guy that he was.

He didn't care if people looked at him funny. He didn't mind if they stared for too long. He paid them absolutely no mind, because he was convinced that they just didn't matter. They weren't important to him or his life in the long run.

And Maya envied him for that.

She wished that she was as confident as he was.

She longed for that ability. She wanted to be brave enough to walk around with her head held high, free to be herself. She didn't want to hide and she definitely didn't want to be afraid. She wanted to be the girl that everybody thought she was supposed to be-the brave, confident girl who ruled the school with an iron fist with her quirky best friend by her side.

If she had that type of confidence, she would be able to walk right up to Lucas, ball his shirt up in her hands the way she had when she was younger, and pull him down so that his face was close enough to her own so that she could kiss him. Right there, in the middle of the crowded school hallway, not caring about who saw them.

She could profess her love for Lucas Friar and she wouldn't be lying to her best friend. She wouldn't have to act as though she were in love with Joshua Matthews and she wouldn't be forced to go on a date with the older boy the next night.

A date that she was pretty sure was to go and see Lucas's band play, which was the very last thing she wanted to do.

* * *

Maya walked into the smoky bar, cringing at the awful scent in the air. The music was loud, filling up the tiny area and coming out clear as day, over the crowded room.

And sure enough, Lucas and his band were right up on stage, with Lucas holding the microphone and a guitar swung across his chest. The band's name-The Pagan-was lit up on the screen behind them, but Maya's focus was on the beautiful boy at the front of the stage.

Her blue eyes caught his green ones, and suddenly she was lost. She wasn't in a smoky bar, fighting her way through a crowd of sweaty bodies and unable to hear the people she had come with over the blaring music. All that she could focus on was Lucas Friar, and the fact that he was looking at her like she was the only thing that mattered to him.

He was looking at her like he had back at a campfire, back in Texas, all those years ago. He was looking at her as though he actually saw her.

"You want a drink?"

Josh's deep, velvety voice was suddenly right in her ear, tearing her out of the hypnotized state that Lucas had put her in. She was immediately torn back to the bar that she longed to leave, and the date that she was forcing herself to act excited about.

"Huh?" She asked, blinking slowly as she tried to comprehend what he had just asked her.

"Do you want something to drink? You seemed nervous when we were getting past the bouncer, so I figured I'd get you the drink so you don't have to worry about lying again."

He had pressed his mouth closer to her ear and was speaking just a bit louder, as though his volume and proximity had been the reasons she hadn't understood him. As though she merely hadn't heard him.

"Um….yeah, I'll have…a Malibu and coke?"

It came out more like a question, despite the fact that it was her drink of choice. Not too much alcohol and no bitter after taste. It was a safe choice of beverage-one that she knew she could handle.

"Be right back," Josh said, flashing her a quick wink before disappearing towards the bar.

Riley had been with them, accompanied by Charlie Gardner, the boy she'd been dating since she ditched Lucas, Farkle, Zay and Isadora back in ninth grade. The boy who had helped her in her rise towards popularity.

And, like always, Riley and Charlie had disappeared as soon as they had arrived, to go sneak off into a corner and spend their entire night attached at the lips. That was how it always was when Maya agreed to go somewhere with the couple and she was sure that that was part of the reason that Riley had become some obsessed with getting Maya a boyfriend.

"Alright, guys!"

That was Lucas's beautiful country accent and Maya immediately turned towards the stage, eyes focused on the boy.

"We've got one more song for this set-a fan favorite," he winked and Maya chose to believe that the wink was directed towards her. "But, before we sing "The Chase of Love", I've got a little dedication to make," His eyes found hers and she could see the smile forming.

Maya was frozen in time, dreading what was about to come next.

Of course Lucas had some stupid fan girl who was crazy about him. She was probably older and more mature. A girl who wouldn't be ashamed of having a relationship with him.

And now she had to watch him dedicate a song-a love song, she was sure from the title-to him. And that killed her more than anything else. She could bare knowing that Lucas had moved on, gotten over the love triangle that had consisted of Riley, him and herself. She had expected that to happen eventually. But, she didn't want to have to watch it happen.

That just seemed the cruelest and most unusual form of punishment she could possibly imagine.

And then she was distracted once again, Because Lucas was tearing off his shirt, revealing his broad and perfectly chiseled chest. Revealing the pierced nipple that Maya found somewhat sexy, even though she normally would have found it to be incredibly disgusting.

"THIS ONE GOES OUT TO MAYA!"

Her eyes grew wide, taking in the proclamation. And, for a second, she was scanning the crowd, as though waiting for a different Maya to make herself known.

When she saw the amused smirk on his face when he caught her eyes once again, however, she knew that he wanted her. She knew that he meant her, and that he was in love with her-the same way that she was so in love with him.

She started pushing through the crowd, making her way towards the stage as she forgot about everything that was happening around her.

Forgetting about Josh and the date that she was supposed to be on. She was forgetting about Riley and the fact that Riley was convinced Maya was in love with Josh. She forgot about everything, except for the gorgeous boy up on that stage. The boy who had just declared his love for her, ignoring any type of rejection or ridicule his confession could bring to him.

She had to get to that stage.

She needed to be there, so that as soon as he was done, she could jump up onto the stage and throw herself into his arms, kissing him the way she had longed to for so long.

Because she no longer cared. She had the confidence that she needed to finally be Maya Hart. The girl who wasn't afraid of anything. The girl who was unafraid to be herself, because she didn't know how to be anybody else. Because she didn't want to be anybody else.

She was going to be the Maya Hart who set off the sprinkles in the middle of class. The blonde haired beauty who danced on teachers's desks. The short stack of pancakes who fled from detention and led an army of fellow rebels in her wake.

She was sick and tired of being Riley's goody-two-shoes best friend. She wanted to be the rebel once again. The girl who truly was Shawn Hunter's step-daughter.

Sliding the purity ring off of her finger as she forced her way to the crowd, she vowed to go back to being the Maya Hart that deserved to be with a guy like Lucas Friar.

She was going to be Maya Hart the Bold, once again.

* * *

She had decided, right then and there, that she just didn't care. They could call her all of the names that they wanted to.

Riley could abandon her, choosing not to support Maya and her newfound relationship. Maya could be left to have no friends, and she still wouldn't be able to bring herself to care.

As long as she had Lucas, she really didn't care about anything else. All they needed was to have one another and they'd be okay. They'd get through anything as the two rebels without a cause-the Bad Boy Cowboy and the Rebel Blonde Beauty.

Like Bonnie and Clyde, they would be able to take on the world together, without giving the rest of the world a second thought. Because nobody else mattered but the two of them. Maya decided, right then and there, as the final chords of the song were strung, that she no longer cared about anybody else in her life.

Maybe that was wrong of her, to forget about her friends and stop caring about them all together, but she couldn't bring herself to care. Her friends couldn't be that good, because she had felt so terrified of doing this for so long. And she was already feeling so amazing at the mere thought of doing it. Why would good friends try to deny her of that feeling?

No, all of her so-called friends could look. They could gawk and stare and glare and sneer. She really didn't care what they did.

She was ready to shout it out for the whole wide would to hear.

Which was why she lifted herself up onto the stage, running towards Lucas as soon as the song ended and throwing her arms around his neck, leaping right into his own arms and kissing him, pressing her lips right up against his own.

He wrapped his arms around her waist in return, lifting her right off of the ground and kissed her back.

And it was clear, right then and there, that Lucas Friar was in love with Maya Hart, and Maya was just as in love with Lucas. _  
_


	3. I Got the Boy

**Scream Me a Love Song  
A Collection of Song Fics  
No.3 I've Got The Boy**

 _ **A/N: A sadder one-shot this time, based off of one of my favorite Jana Kramer songs. This story's from both Maya and Riley's point of views, in the aftermath of their relationships with Lucas Friar.**_

* * *

Riley Matthews stared at the news paper, eyes wide at the wedding announcement published in the New York Times as she waited for her best friend to show up for their typical afternoon lunch date during their busy work weeks. They always made sure that they had lunch together, to enforce that they got a chance to see one another every single day.

Usually, they met up at the Night Hawk diner, which was in the middle of their internship locations. It was summer, before their senior year of college, and they were both hard at work with their summer internships needed for graduation. The two girls were college roommates and had been spending their lunch dates trying to find an apartment for them to move in together after graduation.

That was why Riley had had the paper in the first place. So that she could scroll through the real estate advertisements until she found the perfect apartment for them in a decent neighborhood. Because her best friend could protect them both and hold her own no matter where they lived, but Riley would have no idea what to do if she was ever met with trouble on the rare occasions when her best friend couldn't be around to protect her. The brunette had gotten herself into plenty of trouble when her best friend wasn't close by to protect her, which was why she clung so hard to her friendship with Maya Hart, the only person who had ever truly been there for her since the beginning, no matter who else came into their lives.

But, Riley had found something far more damaging than a potential apartment. Instead, she had spotted a wedding announcement for her ex-boyfriend. For the first boy that she had ever dated. For the only boy who had ever threatened to come between Riley and Maya, the best friends in the world. The boy who had dated both girls.

Which was why it shouldn't hurt Riley so much to stare at the wedding announcement. Because, she had been perfectly fine with watching Maya date Lucas Friar. But, seeing that he had married some gorgeous Texas beauty a few weeks ago and had immediately run off for a honeymoon in Jamaica broke her heart and crushed her spirit.

Lucas had always been one of her closest friends, even after the break up. But, once the gang had graduated, they had all gone their separate ways. Isadora Smackle ran off to Yale while Farkle Minkus went to Princeton. Lucas went back to Texas, heading off to the University of Austin and was never seen again. After a while, he stopped contacting his friends from New York City. That left Maya, who was at NYU with Riley, along with Isaiah Babineaux.

Since it had been so long since Riley had gotten a chance to talk to Lucas, she didn't know anything about this girl. All she knew was that she was gorgeous, with body type that strongly resembled Riley's own, meaning that she was tall and thin, with small and soft curves. Her features were sharp, as close to symmetrical as possible, and beautiful. She resembled Riley, until one looked at her her coloring. She had beach blonde hair, with bright, shockingly blue eyes the color of denim jeans. She wore a small amount of makeup, making her even more similar to Maya Hart, and her smile resembled that sneaky smirk that Maya was so well known for.

So, Riley knew that this girl was the seemingly perfect combination of Maya and herself, which was probably exactly what Lucas needed. And she knew that this girl was a very lucky girl, because she had Lucas Friar and he was one of the best boys in the world. They didn't make many boys like Lucas anymore, so whoever was able to get a boy like him was rare.

Lucas looked handsome, of course. Absolutely dashing, like the prince charming she had always thought him to be. Dressed up in his black and white tux, he looked so grown up. Lucas had a way of always looking years older than he was when he was dressed up nicely, and looking like an average teenage boy on normal days, with his straight leg jeans and baseball tees.

Now, as a business owner-rather than the veterinarian that Riley had always imagined he would become-Riley had only ever seen him as being dressed up, like a real adult. Compared to the teenage boy driving his pick-up truck around New York City without a care in the world with a baseball hat that Maya stole every chance she got, he seemed like he was a very different person. They were two different worlds. The New York version of Lucas and the Texas version.

The New York version of Lucas has been torn between Maya and Riley, though, and that had left him constantly being conflicted between two different versions of himself. The version that sat in the library talking to Riley about how he wanted to be a veterinarian because he had helped a horse give birth one time. The boy with the big dreams of being with Riley and finding their happily ever after. They had fallen in love quickly, almost as quickly as Riley had fallen into his lap on the subway when they first met.

Riley had known it was a fantasy, after a while of delusion, but what they had had was real when it had been happening and Riley would never forget those memories. To her, they would always be the two kids that needed to be driven around by their parents' in the backseat, fearless of everything except for the terrifying looks her father gave Lucas ever single time he got a chance to check the rearview mirror. That was why they had taken the subway so often back when they were dating.

She sighed, setting the newspaper aside and trying to get it off of her mind as she looked up, hearing the bell signaling that a new customer had entered the diner. It was Maya, and she didn't need her best friend to deal with this news. Maya had finally gotten over Lucas, who had been just another person who had loved her and left, barely even taking the time to give her a proper goodbye, despite the fact that they had been dating at the time.

Plastering on a smile, she mentally prepared herself for what was about to be the hardest thing in her entire life.

* * *

"What's wrong?"

Maya knew Riley better than she knew anybody else in the world, which meant that she knew something was bothering her friend as soon as she slid into the vinyl booth. She didn't have to look at the menu, because she knew what she was going to order. She always got the same thing, after all. A tuna melt on rye with a chocolate milkshake. Riley would end up getting a veggie burger with a glass of water and a side salad, like the good little vegan she was. The wait staff was so used to them going there and ordering the same thing every day that they didn't even need to order. They just brought the food out as soon as Maya arrived, placing the order as soon as Riley arrived.

"What? Nothing," Riley insisted, shaking her head with that same overly stretched out smile on her face.

"No luck with the apartment hunting?" Maya guessed, grabbing the paper and peering through the page that Riley had been studying, finding it strange that she wasn't even looking at the real estate page. "Why were you looking at wedding announcements?" she asked, slamming the paper down and raising an eyebrow at her friend.

"I was just wondering if any of our friends got married!" Riley defended herself loudly.

"Zay hasn't had a serious girlfriend since the day we met him. Farkle and Smackle broke up after their first semester at college and we haven't heard from her since. Farkle's been single ever since the break-up. Do you think Josh and I eloped?" Maya snickered.

And then she saw the picture, right at the bottom of the page. Lucas Friar, the first boy she had ever loved and the only boy she had ever been with besides Joshua Matthews, her current boyfriend, had gotten married to a girl who looked suspiciously liked the love child between Riley and Maya.

"Huckleberry got hitched, huh?" Maya sighed, a sad smile on her face. "No matter-he's not the guy I was with back in high school anyways," She shrugged.

It was the truth.

The Lucas that Maya had dated had been a foolish, adventurous teenage boy. He had been the type of guy to take risks without thinking about the consequences. He didn't care about the rules-not when he was with Maya. She brought out that reckless side of him and that was how she chose to remember him.

She wanted to always think of him as the teenage boy who had found the perfect place to purchase fake ids from so that they could spend every spring break in high school hopping around at different bars, after he had helped Maya to convince all of the parents to send them to Mexico for "educational" spring break trips that really just consisted of them sitting on the beach all day, eating tacos and then bar hopping all night long.

He was the Lucas that had convinced Maya, the New York City princess, to climb onto the back of his four wheeler on their summer trips to visit his family in Texas, riding along what he referred to as trails. To her, they just seemed like a mess of trees in the backwoods that strongly resembled the horror movies Maya loved so much, but refused to watch in Texas.

Those trips to Texas had been full of her coercing her into trying new things, doing something adventurous and exciting. Her heart had pounded at a speed she hadn't imagined as possible. When she thought back on those memories, her heart sped up to that racing speed once again, which was part of the reason that she had always tried so hard to never think about her memories with Lucas. Not the ones that were specific to her relationship with just Lucas, of course.

Now, he was all cleaned up and well dressed. He had a perfectly styled hair cut that was far different from the messy, constantly too long style that he had had all through high school, at Maya's insistence, so that she could play with his hair whenever she was bored while they cuddled up together. The tie he was wearing was nice, rather than being one of the dorky ones that Maya had bought him for every occasion she could find an excuse for when they were younger. It was solid and skinny, a shiny shade of black. And it was a real tie, rather than one of the clip-on bow ties he had worn when he was with Maya, for the rare occasions when they needed to look professional and respectful.

And he was wearing shiny dress shoes, something Maya had never seen Lucas in. She had insisted that he was Converse to prom and his typical shoes of choice were sneakers and combat boots.

"He's different," Riley agreed, taking back the newspaper and folding it up as the waitress brought over their orders. "Thank you," She smiled at the young waitress.

"He's not the Ranger Rick that either one of us fell in love with, so what's it matter that he married some perfect looking girl. What's that even doing in the New York Times? I thought he was back in Texas and never coming back," Maya rolled her eyes, staring down at her tuna melt.

"Didn't you read it? She's from New York-Manhattan," Riley explained.

"Of course," Maya snorted, picking up her tuna melt and taking a large bite. "Whatever-I'm happy with Josh…and, you're happy, right?" Maya wondered, raising an eyebrow at her best friend.

"Of course! Things have been going really good with Charlie since we met up at that bar last month," Riley beamed.

"See? Who needs Lucas," Maya rolled her eyes.

Secretly, though, she was dealing with an internal debate. Because, she couldn't help but wonder, if things were just a little bit different….

Well, a part of her wondered if, given the choice, she would choose to be with Lucas, even in this new version of himself, or to continue to live the life that she currently knew, dating Josh and interning at Teen Vogue magazine for her fashion design major at NYU.

Lucas was the one that had gotten away, after all. He had always been Maya's biggest "what-if" and a part of her longed to have some sort of final closure. But, the smarter part of her scolded herself for wanting something that was so frivolous. She was happy now, and she should just enjoy her happiness. Because that was all that she really needed. A chance at happiness, to allow her to believe in hope.

* * *

Riley Matthews has Lucas Friar's first kiss. But this new girl, Penelope McGee, would have the last kiss. Riley had had the first date, but Penelope got every single date for the rest of Lucas's life.

It didn't matter how many of Lucas's "firsts" Riley could claim, because Penelope got to have the "lasts". Riley's moments would all become distant memories for Lucas, while he would constantly get to live through those moments with Penelope over and over again.

And that was what made Riley slightly jealous. It was what broke her heart. It was what killed her, because now, Lucas was actually over her. He had found somebody else and he had forgotten about Riley and Maya, sending them away and out of his life so that he could settle down with somebody else and enjoy the rest of his life with somebody new.

Riley was a part of Lucas's past. He had made sure that that would happen, and it killed her, because this new girl was not only his present, but she was his future. Riley was now cast aside, because Lucas had found somebody that made his life a little bit easier. Somebody who made it so he didn't have to make a choice between two very different girls.

She wondered if this beautiful blonde knew about Riley and Maya, the girls who had come so close to ruining Lucas back when he had lived in New York City.

It didn't make any difference if Penelope knew about them, of course, but Riley wanted to know all the same. It interested her, to know if this girl knew about the other versions of Lucas and still chose to accept him.

Did she know about the way that Riley had fallen into his lap on the subway and their romance has escalated from there? Did Penelope know that Lucas had put Riley on the back of a white horse and called her his princess? Did she know about all the trouble he went through to take her on a first date and the emotional talk they had had in the library? Did she know about their first date and the first kiss and the awkwardness of their first attempt at a relationship? Did she know about the ski lodge and the purple jelly bean that he had given to Riley when he had told her that he picked her?

No, Penelope didn't know about the boy that Riley had dated all those years ago, because Penelope wasn't dating that boy. Instead, she was dating the man that Lucas Friar had become, and he seemed to be completely different from the person that Riley had known.

Was Penelope aware of how Maya had introduced herself to Lucas, crashing into his life and never leaving? Did she know about their inside jokes and the way that Maya teased him relentlessly? Did Penelope know about Texas and the campfire or Maya's first date with Lucas when she had dumped a smoothie on his head? Did Penelope know about how similar the two blondes were?

Riley doubted that Penelope knew about any of that, especially about how Riley had found Lucas watching Maya dancing with Brandon Scholl at Missy Bradford's end of the year party at her house in the Hamptons at the end of her freshman yea. Lucas had looked ready to kill somebody and he was throwing back beers in a way that Riley had never seen him drink before. And that was when Riley had realized that Lucas was never going to truly get over Maya. So, she had set him free.

And Lucas and Maya had immediately become attached at the hip. She had started going to Texas with him every summer to visit his family back home. They took weekend trips into the heart of New York City or towards Upstate New York so that Maya could work on her art work. They painted Maya's room a different color every few months, when she needed a change and wanted to touch up her chalkboard wall. He had proudly helped Maya assemble her portfolio for every college application and scolded her about rejecting her acceptance to FIT so that she could go to college with Riley.

He was so in love with Maya that he hadn't had the heart to let her know that he was taking his full ride scholarship to that school out in Texas. Maya had found out when she found the acceptance letter in his room. She had lost her cool, screaming at him for keeping it a secret. Crying over the fact that he had just been planning on disappearing. And Lucas had just stood there, allowing her to get it all out, knowing that he had been wrong, because he had just made Maya's worst fear a reality. He had become another person who left her, claiming to have loved her and taking her love for himself, before disappearing from her life in order to do what was best for him.

She didn't hate him for leaving. She was proud of him for going out into the world and doing what he had always said he was going to do. She wanted the best for him. But, he had never talked to her about going to Texas and he hadn't prepared her for it. Two weeks later, he was gone and he stopped talking to Maya completely. He never came back to visit, his parents moving back to Texas to be closer to their son. He tried to keep in touch with Riley, Zay and Farkle, for a little while. But, was always trying, off handedly to find out about Maya. And then, when he heard something he didn't like, he lost his cool and hung up.

After a while, he had written them all off, because it was easier to be done with them all then to risk hearing about Maya and maybe, just maybe, hearing that she was happy.

There was no way that Penelope knew about that, though, because knowing about that would mean that she knew about a relationship Lucas had had with somebody that he truly loved, and Riley honestly couldn't imagine Lucas acting so in love and happy with somebody who wasn't Maya.

Lucas's passion for Maya had been why Riley had never cared about the fact that he had chosen Maya over Riley. She had been okay with seeing them together because they were adorable together and they were both so happy. Besides, him being with Maya and allowed Riley to keep him in her life and she needed to be allowed to keep Lucas in her life. She needed the boy who was her best friend.

Which was probably why seeing this announcement hurt her so much. Because of the fact that she had finally lost Lucas. She didn't know he had started seeing anybody, yet alone the fact that he had been engaged and was getting married. She was no longer a part of Lucas's life, and she knew nothing about the boy who had always been so much like her.

That was why Riley was sitting in her bedroom, that still looked eerily similar to it had in middle school, scrolling through Lucas's Facebook page. She had spent hours trying to find it, and now she was using it as research, trying to piece together his life and figure out everything that she had missed out on over the past few years.

* * *

Maya was toying with the bulky, silver wring with the large sapphire stone in the center. Red found with AAHS stuck out on one side with FRIAR engraved under the stone. Their graduation year was put in the same red font on the other side of the ring. A football and a baseball bat decorated Lucas's class ring, that he had strung on a thick, golden rope-chain and given to Maya on their first anniversary together.

He had never asked for it back and Maya had never offered. She had never given any of Lucas's things back. Instead, they filled up a box in her closet. She never brought the box out, but tonight she was sitting on the floor of her room with the box in her lap, hair pulled up into a high, sloppy ponytail with some pieces falling into her face. She had shoved one of Lucas's old baseball hats-the one that had been a part of his baseball uniform throughout high school-on her head and was wrapped up in his favorite, zip-up sweatshirt supporting the Dallas Cowboys. She was surprised to find out that it still smelled like him. It was faint, but it was there.

Maya had all of the high school mementos. His letterman jacket and his class ring. She had the pieces of his old uniforms and everything that he had been given for every sport he played. She had every baseball hat he had ever owned and a collection of sweatshirts. She had the pictures of them at prom, with Lucas's first truck, the photos from countless football games and baseball games and basketball games. She had photos from Homecomings and graduation. She had goofy pictures of Lucas at every age. She had mix CDs of his favorite songs and stupid little gifts he had gotten her on random occasions to make sure she remembered absolutely everything about their relationship. She had a box full of memories for the two of them.

This new girl, however, had a diamond ring and a wedding band to match. She would have photos from a wedding and memories of an extravagant engagement. She would have photo albums full of their plans for a wedding and of a bridal party consisting of their closest family and friends. Stupid pictures of them holding hands from opposite sides of a door. Pictures of them holding hands and kissing and stuffing cake into one another's faces. One day, she would have children who would run around, looking just like Lucas or like the perfect combination of the two of them. She was going to have a family with Lucas, an entire _lifetime_ with him.

So, Maya could be jealous of her. She knew that she could be sitting in her room bitterly cyber stalking him the way that Riley was and trying to learn everything she could about the girl, but Maya wasn't going to do that. She couldn't be jealous of Penelope, because she was sure that Lucas's bride was jealous of Maya, as well.

After all, each girl had something that the other one was never going to be able to have and something that the other one was always going to want to have.

Besides, Maya and Penelope had not fallen in love with the same boy. She knew that to be true.

Maya had fallen in love with a hot headed teenage boy with a wild temper. A boy with unruly hair that never fell into place, no matter how hard he tried. The boy who loved his wild mane, though, despite his mother's insistence that he go out and get a haircut. She had the football player with the bad boy reputation and the southern boy heart. She was dating the sweet little country boy who drove a pick-up truck and volunteered at the humane society after school on weekdays, forcing Maya to come with him. She fell in love with the boy who had bought a hotel room and decorated it with rose petals and chocolate roses and ordered champagne and chocolate fondue and New York Styled Cheesecake for the first time that they had had sex, and then turned into a monster in bed, giving her the absolutely best night of her entire life.

She fell in love with the boy who had snuck into janitor's closets to make-out with her during school and who had spent way too much time in detention because of teacher's reporting the couple for public displays of affection. Maya loved the Lucas that put Brandon up against the locker for looking at the blonde a little too long and who had refused to speak to Josh whenever he was in the same room as the older boy. She fell for the guy who got into fist fights when guys made comments to Maya when they were out.

That wasn't the guy that Penelope had fallen in love with.

She had fallen in love with a sweet, Southern gentleman who wore a suit and ran a company. A guy who drove some expensive sports car and couldn't care less about his passions. A boy who kept his cool and was always well mannered. The guy who always looked perfectly put together. She didn't even know what it was like to be with the Lucas Friar who wasn't a cool and steady hand.

Still…. a part of Maya just wanted to hear it for herself.

Hear that Lucas was married and that he no longer was the guy that she had known all of those years ago. The one who felt so passionately for her that he had almost given up a full ride scholarship.

Riley didn't know the truth. None of her friends did. Because, Lucas and Maya had wanted it that way. Lucas was going to give up the scholarship of a lifetime to stay with Maya, and when Maya had seen the acceptance letter, she had informed him that he had to take it. When he had worried about their relationship, Maya had broken up with him. She had told him that there was no reason to stay.

When she had met up with Riley, she told her about finding the letter and how she had lost it, but Riley had chosen to believe that Lucas had confessed to wanting to go all along, having kept it a secret from his girlfriend. Lucas told Farkle that was what had happened, and that was what all of their friends thought now.

Maya felt bad, because she knew that her friends had always held that against Lucas, but she couldn't bring herself to care that much. Because her own heart was broken, because she had given up the boy that she had loved more than anybody else in the world so that he could pursue his dreams, the same way he had always tried to ensure that she pursued her own dreams.

So, she dialed his old number, just to see if it would still work.

"Maya?'

She was surprised when she heard his voice, soft and sweet into the phone, the way that it always was when he said her name. She wasn't surprised that he had known it was her from the number. They'd memorized one another's numbers long ago, because one of them was always getting their phone taken away for some reason or another. They'd purchased more burner phones throughout high school to communicate late at night than either one of them would ever care to admit.

"I hear that congratulations are in order, Ranger Rick," she replied, proud of herself from keeping her voice from cracking as she spoke to him.

"Oh… you, uh, saw the announcement Penny's parents put in the paper, huh?" Lucas asked, a nervous chuckle to his voice as he spoke. She could imagine him scratching at the back of his neck as he spoke, the way he always did when he was anxious.

"She's pretty," Maya observed.

"She looks like you and Riley," Lucas scoffed.

"You love her," Maya stated.

"Yeah," Lucas admitted. "More than I ever loved Riley," he added on, but refused to add on that he loved his wife more than he loved Maya.

Because, Maya knew, he didn't. Just like how she didn't love Josh more than she had ever loved Lucas, the Texas boy still loved Maya more than anybody else in the world and more than he would ever love anybody else.

"I'm dating Josh…we've been dating for about a year," Maya admitted, looking through the photo album he had given her at her graduation party.

She was torturing herself and she knew it, but she really didn't care. She couldn't help it, because she needed to remember him. She needed to remember what she had felt one last time, so that she could remember that heartbreak one more time. One more time, and then she would file it all away. File the feelings away with the memories, and be able to finally move on with the rest of her life.

"Josh?" Lucas scoffed. "I always knew he was gonna step in as soon as I fucked up," and Maya knew he was rolling his eyes and clenching his fists so tight that his knuckles were turning white.

"I just… I just needed to call and hear…. I needed to see for myself," Maya sighed, shaking her head.

This was stupid and it was a mistake. She knew it.

"You wanted to see for yourself that I'm not Ranger Rick anymore?" Lucas wondered.

"Yeah," She admitted.

"Well, I'm not," Lucas muttered. "I'm never going to be the Ranger Rick again, because Ranger Rick can't exist without his Blonde Beauty, short stack," he explained.

"Don't do this," Maya whispered.

"I'm not doing anything, Maya," Lucas said. "I'm just letting you know that it's still you. It was always you. And it's always going to be you. But, it didn't work and… I want you to be happy, okay? Things happened beyond my control and I'm not the guy you fell in love with. The guy I am now? I don't deserve you. So, be with Josh and be happy. But, if he ever hurts you? I'll fuck him up worse than I ever fucked up Brandon or any of those other guys," Lucas told her and she could imagine that boyishly wicked smirk on his face.

Maya didn't say anything else. All she did was hang up.

Because it was over. Whatever she and Lucas had had was over now. Lucas married and some new girl that he had met and fallen in love with after falling out of love with Maya had him. But, Penelope only had the man. Maya had the boy.


	4. Lips of an Angel

**Scream Me a Love Song  
A Collection of Song Fictions  
No. 4 Lips of an Angel**

 _ **A/N: Here's one that starts of depressing as all hell, but ends with a bittersweet twist. I'm not as pleased with this as I thought it would be, since it was always one of my favorite songs, but I think that it's pretty good. It just didn't come out anything close to what I had originally planned out when I started writing it. Let me know what you think!**_

 _ **WARNING: Major LUCAYA is about to follow, but it comes at the expense of Riley, which I normally try not to do. Just be prepared for a happy ending for LUCAYA, but a not so happy ending for Riley.**_

* * *

Lucas Friar groaned as his cell phone rang.

It was three o'clock in the morning and it was far too late at night for somebody to be calling him. Nobody ever called him at this time. He rolled over in bed, careful not to disturb his girlfriend, who was cuddling up besides him in the twin bed located in his dorm room. His roommate, and best friend, Isaiah Babineaux, popped upright in his bed, scanning the room as though looking for an attacker due to the noise. When he saw the light coming from Lucas's phone, he rolled his eyes and dropped back down into bed, rolling over to face the other way with a pillow shoved over his face to block out the noise.

He was so tired that he couldn't even make the connection that it wasn't his usual ringtone playing. Instead, it was an old school hip-hop song that he didn't even like that much. The ring tone that he had assigned to his ex-girlfriend, years ago when they had gotten together.

When he saw the beautiful girl's face filling up the screen of his iPhone 6, he cursed under his breathe and slipped out of bed, leaving Riley Matthews to lay in his bed, alone.

Barefoot, he grabbed is keys and disappeared into the hallway outside of his room, making his way towards the common area of the suite that his dorm resided in. While he walked, he answered the phone, wondering what she could possibly want from him.

The beautiful blonde that he had dated all through high school hadn't called him since they had graduated and broken up. They were living close to one another, with him attending NYU with his girlfriend and best friend. She was just a few miles away, over at FIT, working on becoming a fashion designer.

They had broken up right after graduation, because of an opportunity she had been granted to study art in Europe, traveling to a different cultural capital every week to learn at the best art schools around. He had wanted to make sure that she took that opportunity, but he hadn't been able to handle the distance. So, right before she had boarded the plane, he had broken up with her.

By the time she got back, he was dating her best friend and she refused to speak to him. She wouldn't come around when he was going to be with Riley. Because she was pissed at him, and he knew that she had every right to be pissed at him. He didn't blame her at all.

But, now he had to try to figure out what it was that Maya Hart wanted, because he knew that it had to be an emergency that now, halfway through their first semester of their second year of college, she was calling him, in the middle of the night. Because, even if she really needed to talk to Riley, she would never call Lucas to get to the brunette. Besides, she and Riley weren't even as close had they had been back in high school.

Lucas had ruined that friendship, all because he couldn't stand being alone. He had grown used to being in a relationship, after dating Maya for almost four years of high school, after a brief stint of dating Riley before he was truly aware of his feelings. He knew it had been a low blow to go after Maya's best friend, but Riley was there for him and he had fallen for her, and he couldn't bring himself to hurt her again.

"Short stack, why you calling me right now?" Lucas sighed, dropping down onto the uncomfortable wooden chair and running a hand through his hair.

"I know, I know-it's late and I'm sorry that I interrupted you from fucking Riley senseless, but I figured you guys might be taking a break between rounds or something right now," Maya said, as blunt and crude as she usually was.

He missed that about her. He missed that almost as much as he missed the way that her blonde hair tickled her. He missed how she was so short that he could easily rest his chin right on the top of her head and how easily he could fling her over his shoulder. He missed the way her hand felt in his and he missed the fact that she wasn't afraid to show how she felt about him.

It was a sign of how far Riley and Maya had drifted that Maya wasn't aware of the fact Riley and Lucas hadn't had sex. Lucas and Maya had had it, of course. They'd had it plenty of times and they seemed to do it nonstop. But, with Riley? Lucas was barely allowed to get to second base without her freaking out that they were taking things too far.

"Listen, it's kind of hard to talk right now," Lucas explained. "It's late and I'm out in the middle of my-wait, hold up…. Clutterbucket, are you _crying?"_ he wondered, waking up at the realization of her quivering voice and the tinge of sorrow tainting her words.

He had only ever heard her cry once before, and it had been when he had broken up with her at the airport. She was too strong to ever show her real emotions to people, because she never wanted people to get too close. She had taken down all of her barriers in order to let him in, and he had made her regret it.

It had surprised him more than it had surprised anybody else when he had learned that Maya was in a new relationship, dating Joshua Matthews. She had started dating Riley's uncle a few weeks after she arrived back in the United States. Lucas didn't know many details, but he knew enough. They were dating and his worst fear had been realized. Maya was in love with Josh, and most likely had still been harboring feelings for him despite their four-year relationship.

Of course, he knew that wasn't fair, because Maya could say the same thing about Lucas and Riley when she considered how quickly they had gotten together after the break up.

"Is everything okay?" Lucas whispered.

"Why are you whispering? Don't try to act all heroic, Huckleberry, if you can't even talk to me. Why the _fuck_ are you whispering? Why answer the phone if you couldn't talk to me?" Maya asked, a bitter edge to her voice which allowed Lucas to know that he was right and she had been crying when she had called him.

"I've gotta whisper because I can't be too loud, Maya," Lucas explained softly. "Riley's in my dorm and-"

"Yeah, I get it. Can't let the princess know that the she-devil's calling you at this hour and getting in the way of your sexual antics," Maya replied and Lucas was sure that she was rolling her eyes.

He wanted to tell her that that wasn't true. He wanted to let her knew that he often wished that Maya were the one in his bed, rather than Riley, but he couldn't say that. Maya's loyalties were still to Riley, before they were to Lucas. And if she knew that Lucas was still in love with her, she would tell Riley and Lucas would be left alone, and that had always been his worst fear when it came to the two girls who loved him so strongly.

She was calling him that night, though, so maybe she still loved him. Maybe neither one of them had ever actually moved on. Maybe, this night, was going to be the night where they got back together and everything started to make sense in Lucas's life again. If he had Maya again, maybe he wouldn't feel like everything he was doing was futile. He wouldn't feel useless all of the time. Instead, he'd feel loved and cared about, and he would know that he was something special and capable of making a real change in the world. He wouldn't feel forced into doing anything he didn't want to do, and he would always feel like he was absolutely perfect, because that was the effect that Maya had on him.

"Lucas," Maya sighed, saying his name.

She rarely ever said his name. Even when they had been dating, she had always referred to him by her stupid nicknames that mocked him for being from Texas. When she called him Lucas, it was a rare moment. It meant that she was emotional and not sure of what to expect. When she called him Lucas, it meant that all of her barriers were down and she was ready to be serious with him. _Lucas_ had been reserved for their most intimate moments. Mostly, it was what she called him during sex.

"It's really good to hear you say my name," He moaned, remembering all of the times she had said that name in a low, sultry whisper while he had been rotating his hips against hers, working his way in and out of her with his hands wrapped tightly around her, often times leaving bruises from his strong grip.

He always felt guilty when he saw those after, vowing that he'd be gentler the next time around. But then Maya would accuse him of going easy on her and demand that he be tougher, and he would lose control and the same thing would happen all over again. Because whatever Maya Hart wanted, Lucas Friar was going to give to her.

"It sounds so _fucking_ sweet," He admitted.

"Yeah, yeah, it's like an angel. Are you drunk or something, Lucas?" She wondered, clearly ready to move back onto the purpose of her phone call.

He felt weak every single time she said his name. Because hearing her say his name brought back the very best memories. The memories of all of the times when Maya had had him under her full control, with her lying naked in his bed, cuddled up beneath her blankets and beckoning him to come back for one more round. All of those times that Maya had poked her head out from behind a shower curtain and called him over to join her. Moments when Lucas had barely been able to stand up, because he was just so powerless when it came to that five foot nothing blonde haired beauty.

"Listen, this was a mistake… I'll call you-"

"No! Maya, please, I don't want to say goodbye. I don't want you to hang up. Don't do it, please," He begged, forgetting where he was for a moment and losing control.

He couldn't let her hang up. He couldn't let her do that, because if she hung up, he may never get another chance. He needed to let her know the truth and she could do whatever she wanted with the information. He would let Riley know in the morning and end things with her right away. While he waited for Maya to make her decision, he would force himself to face his fear of being alone. He would do whatever it took to get her back.

"You're dating Riley, Huckleberry. This was a mistake, okay? I never should have called you tonight," she insisted.

He might be dating Riley, but Maya made it impossible to be faithful. If she suggested that he hop on a subway and head over to her dorm so that they could have one more night together, he would have done it, because that would have meant he could be with her, even if it was just for one last time. Anything that she asked, he would do it, because he couldn't resist anything that that voice asked of him.

"Maya, no. You're not hanging up on me. It's…. it's just so funny that you're calling me tonight, because I… I've been thinking about you a lot," He told her honestly.

He wasn't lying to her. He would never lie to her.

He loved Maya, and he often thought about her. But lately, it had been far more often than usual. Lately, he had been thinking about her nonstop. Everything seemed to remind him of her, and he was positive that it was all because he was so uncertain of his own future.

Lucas was at NYU on a football scholarship, but football didn't bring him the same joy that it had always brought him. He had always wanted to be a veterinarian, but his grades in all of his biology classes were far below average. And he just didn't seem passionate about the track that he was on for the rest of his life anymore.

If he still had Maya, she would have been there to try to talk to him to figure things out. Riley told him that he was just going through a rough patch, but that was normal because everybody had their doubts about their futures at times.

"You have?" Maya wondered. "It's just…I've been painting you, a lot," She admitted softly.

"I've been dreaming of you!" Lucas blurted out, not really caring about the people sleeping in the rooms around him. His neighbors had kept him up countless nights before that because of their partying habits.

"Yeah, well, I'm calling you because of all of the paintings, because… well, Josh asked me to marry him a couple weeks ago and he wants an answer. But, I can't answer him when all of my paintings are of you, because I don't know what that means," Maya sighed and he could imagine her running a hand through her blonde tangle of curls due to the stress that she was under.

"Does _he_ know that you're talking to me?" Lucas asked, his eyes narrowing as he sat up straighter in his seat.

He hated Josh and he always had.

Maya had had a school girl crush on him when she was younger and he had always believed that she had never gotten over it. Besides, Josh always looked at Maya like he couldn't wait to have a chance with her. As though he were just waiting for the day that Lucas messed up. And he didn't treat Lucas with any sort of respect. It was clear that he had never taken Maya's relationship with Lucas seriously.

"Is that relevant?"

"I don't want to be the cause of a fight, Maya," Lucas sighed, flopping back in his chair once again, trying to act casual.

"Well, you would be either way, because of those stupid paintings that I just can't figure out," Maya said bitterly, releasing a harsh laugh as the words flew out of her mouth, all tainted with an edge of venom.

"Maya… do you still love me?" Lucas asked.

"Does Riley know that you're talking to me right now?" Maya shot back.

"No," Lucas denied. "I don't think that she has a clue, since she was sleeping when I left," he responded sarcastically.

"Sleeping in your dorm room," Maya shot back nastily.

"And sometimes I wish that it was you!"

The words were out of his mouth before Lucas could give it a second thought. He didn't care that he had said them, though, because he meant them. He had always pretended that Riley was Maya, from the first time they had kissed when he was drunk at that party. After that, it had just become a habit. Riley was so in love that she ignored the soft, muffled whispers where Lucas said the blonde's name instead of the brunette's name.

"I guess we never really moved on, huh?" Maya asked with a dry laugh.

"What?" Lucas gasped. "Maya, what are you saying?"

"It's really good you hear your voice saying my name," Maya moaned.

Lucas had missed the sound of her moaning. That had always been one of his biggest turn on's and she had known that. He was sure that she was only doing it now in order to turn him on, and it was working.

He loved her and he always would, and hearing this gave him hope that maybe Maya still loved him.

There could be hope for them after all, despite their rocky relationship that was so messy. Things had always been messy between the two of them, but he vowed to himself right then and there that if she gave him another chance, he would make sure that things started to be easier for them. He would fight to make sure that they could stay together and finally get their happily ever after.

"Maya," He repeated.

"It sounds so sweet," she sighed.

Maya was his angel. She was the only good thing that he had had in his life for a long time and he knew that she felt the same way about him. They had been the beacon of hope that the other one so badly needed, and that had been a strong foundation for their relationship. They each thought of one another as being the only thing that they had. They needed one another, but that was okay, because it was a balanced relationship.

"Can I come to your dorm?" Lucas wondered.

"Right now?"

"Yeah," Lucas said eagerly. "I could hope right on the subway and be there in fifteen minutes," He promised her.

"There's no reason to do that," she giggled.

"Why not?" Lucas frowned, feeling absolutely defeated and rejected.

"Because," Maya smirked, and her voice sounded eerily close all of a sudden.

"Because why?" He asked suspiciously.

"Turn around."

He heard her giggles and he turned around immediately, eyes growing wide at the short, blonde haired girl standing in the doorway of his suite with her cell phone dangling in her hands, a coy smile on her face.

She was dressed in a pair of skin tight, faded denim skinny jeans, cuffed at the ankle with a pair of wedged black ankle boots to add a little bit of height to her. A white, cropped, high neck tank top emphasized her chest and she had a maroon, fitted blazer over the top, with a matching beret balanced over her curls.

"Maya?" He gasped, dropping his phone as he jumped to his feet, racing towards her. "You're really here?" he asked in shock, lifting her from the ground and twirling her around.

He placed her back on the ground and, overcome by his joy of seeing her, kissed her right on the mouth. His arms were locked around her waist and he pulled her in close to him, running his hands up and down her sides, cupping at her ass. Her arms locked around his neck, tangling in his hair. He lifted her from the ground and pushed her up against the wall besides them, moving down to kiss her neck.

Her being there, back in his arms and so close to him, made him feel weak. But, being able to kiss her again gave him the strength that he needed.

She placed her hands on his shoulders, pushing her away from him gently.

"You need to end things with Riley," Maya whispered, pressing her forehead against his.

"You need to end things with Josh," Lucas challenged.

"I already did that. I think he got the hint when I rejected the proposal," Maya smirked, raising a single eyebrow.

"What?' Lucas asked, lowering her to the ground and staring at her in shock. "I thought you didn't answer him? I thought you were trying to figure out that paintings of me?" He frowned in confusion.

"I told him no as soon as he asked, because I had just finished a particularly gorgeous painting of you. It's you, Huckleberry, and it's always been you," She assured him.

"That's good, because I don't' think that I could say goodbye to you again," Lucas admitted, leaning in for another kiss.

"You're dating Riley," Maya reminded him. "You need to end things before we do anything more," she sighed.

"You make it so god damn hard to be faithful," Lucas groaned, eyeing the beautiful girl who was turning him on, despite the fact that she was fully dressed. "Those lips are calling my name and I would hate to keep them sitting there so lonely," Lucas told her with a sly grin.

"I'm heading back to my dorm, and you're going to go back to your room. In the morning, you're going to end things with Riley. And then we're _slowly_ going to start to rebuild our relationship," Maya explained to him patiently, but forcefully.

"I just need to hear you say something," Lucas told her.

"I love you, Lucas," she smiled, biting down on her bottom lip in that way that he just could resist.

"It's so good to hear your voice saying my name. It sounds so fucking sweet. Hearing you tell me that you love me, though? That makes me fucking helpless to you," Lucas told her with a low growl, hands settling on her hips again.

"Ranger Rick," Maya giggled. "You have a girlfriend and I already did so many horrible things that break the girl code right now. You need to end that if we're going to be together," she insisted, that irresistible smile on her face and honest gleam to her eyes as she tried, like always, to do the right thing.

This was one of the few times that he hated her for trying to do the right thing. This was one of those times that he actually wanted her to break the rules, because it meant that he got to be with her.

"Goodbye, Huckleberry," She giggled, standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.

"Please don't say goodbye. I never want to say goodbye to you again," Lucas insisted, eyes pleading with her.

"It's not a real goodbye this time, Ranger Rick," Maya rolled her eyes. "It's just a see you later," She promised him.

"I really do love you, Maya," Lucas told her, eyes locked on hers. "And I'm really glad that you called me tonight."


	5. Break Up With Him

**Scream Me a Love Song  
A Collection of GMW Song Fics  
No. 5 Break Up With Him**

 _ **A/N: As requested by a guest reviewer-the song "Break Up With Him" by Old Dominion.  
A rough summary: Lucas has always loved Maya, but she's been dating Josh. Ever since Lucas's break-up with Riley, though, the blonde couple has been sneaking around behind everybody's backs. This love affair starts to make Maya doubt her relationship, but she won't admit her feelings to anybody-especially not to Lucas. But, of course. He knows. One night, Lucas gets a little drunk and calls up Maya to try to talk some sense into her. **_

* * *

Lucas Friar tossed aside his empty beer bottle as he sat in his room, in his bed, scrolling through his cell phone as he checked every social media account he had, trying to figure out what Maya Hart was up to that night.

It was a Friday night and he knew that he should be out celebrating the victory that his football team had just accomplished, with the rest of his teammates. But, he couldn't bring himself to attend a mundane, high school party. Not when he was going to have to put on a brave face and act like he was having the time of his life, while Maya was dancing like a wild child, tossing back wine coolers like it was nobody's business, and cuddling up to some college-age asshole who just didn't deserve her.

No, he preferred what happened when nobody else was around and Maya didn't have to answer to her boyfriend. The moments that he had with Maya without Joshua Matthews around were the best moments of Lucas's life, because those were the moments when Maya was cuddling up in his arms, and kissing him senseless.

He knew it was a bad idea as soon as he hit the phone app on his iPhone 6S and started to scroll through his contacts for Maya's name. After all, he had already finished off half of a six pack of beer. But, he needed to call her and hear her voice, because he had a lot that he had to get off of his chest. He needed to talk to her, because if he didn't say everything right then and there, he never would and he would regret it for the rest of his life.

Tapping her name and smirking her her beautiful face filled up the screen, with the word SHORTSTACK written across the top, he brought the phone to his ear and opened up his fourth beer of the evening.

"Huckleberry?"

Maya's voice was clear as day. He was surprised that her voice wasn't muffled by pulsing music and loud, screaming teenagers in the background. Instead, it was nearly silent on the other line, minus the soft sound of Maya's favorite Broadway playlist in the background, which was turned off almost immediately after the blonde beauty had answered her phone.

"Howdy," Lucas said with his southern drawl. "How you doin'?"

His accent always came out stronger when he was drinking, and he ended up using his Texas-slang more whenever he had a few beers in him. It was one of the first signs for his friends to realize that he was getting close to his limit. He started to act like he was back in Austin, forgetting the boy that he had become in New York.

"Ranger Rick, do you realize what time it is?"

"I know, I know-it's late, but I knew you'd answer," Lucas drawled, leaning back against the wall that the head of his bed was pushed up against, with a pillow between his back and the white wall behind him.

"Because I thought there was something wrong with you! It's two in the morning, Sundance. I'm exhausted," Maya sighed.

"Hell nah," Lucas insisted. "You're up workin' on a paintin' right now," He insisted with a strong southern accent on every single word, cutting the final syllable off a few of the words that came out of his mouth.

"You're drunk, Hop-a-Long, and I don't know how, because you totally skipped the party tonight, just like you always do," Maya replied dryly and he knew that she was rolling her eyes on the other end of the phone.

"Nah, I ain't drunk," Lucas said, waving his hand to shove the idea away, even though Maya couldn't see what he was doing. "I mean, I guess that I may have a little buzz, but it's just a small one," he assured her.

"What do you need, Lone Star?" she sounded frustrated, but he could hear the amused smile on her voice that showed that she wasn't all that annoyed with him for calling her at that hour, because at least it was him-somebody who always got her laughing, especially when he was intoxicated.

"Okay, well, you see-this song came on and it's _our_ song," He informed her in a low whisper, as though trying to conspire with her.

He didn't have to specify the song, because Maya knew what the song was. It was a country song-one of the only genres they could agree on. It was by Sam Hunt, who was their mutual favorite and it was called _Take Your Time._ It was the song that had been playing in the car the first time that Lucas had gotten up the nerve to kiss her, which had started the entire affair that they had going on behind the back of Maya's previous boyfriend.

"And?"

" _And_ I figured that it couldn't do much harm if I called you for the quickest little conversation," Lucas said with a child-like tone tainting his voice, trying to act like he was a sweet and innocent little boy.

"Huckleberry, I know that you're drunk right now, which is making you confused and all, but you need to remember that I'm dating Josh. I'm in _love_ with Josh. He's my boyfriend and we can't do this," Maya explained, each word coming out slowly and heavily enunciated.

"Yeah, I know. But, like, you keep sayin' you're taken, but I just think that you're takin' too long," Lucas slurred.

"Taking too long for _what_ exactly?"

"To tell Josh that it's over!" Lucas exclaimed.

"You want me to break up with Josh?" Maya snapped. "Are you absolutely _crazy?"_

"Tell Josh that you want to end things and then get that perky little ass over to my house, okay?" Lucas said, ignoring Maya's protests.

"Sundance, I'm with Josh because I love him, okay. Whatever you thought we had is… well, it's just fun and it should end, because it's wrong, because I want to be with Josh and I love him and-"

"You're stringin' him along and I don't like it. You're wastin' precious time that we could be spendin' together, and I really can't wait for you to be my girl," Lucas sighed, cutting her off as he went on with his efforts to convince Maya to end her relationship and choose him, ignoring all of the protests she attempted to make.

"And how exactly would you like me to end things with Josh and start things with you?" Maya said, her voice strained as she spoke through clenched teeth, showing that she was staring to get annoyed with Lucas and his antics.

"Like a band-aid! Nice and fast. Seriously, Maya-the way that you look at me? It's a wonder he doesn't already know. It's impossible to pretend that you aren't into me," Lucas insisted cheerfully.

"I'm not breaking up with Josh. I _love_ him," Maya repeated.

"You and I both know that you ain't in love with him, so hurry up and just break up with him," Lucas commanded, slurring his words as his southern drawl tainted each and every syllable out of his mouth, acting as a constant reminder to Maya that was was absolutely, positively drunk.

Maya didn't even dignify his final command with a response. Instead, Lucas was met with the loud beep of a disconnected call. When he pulled his phone away from his ear, he saw the screen informing him that the call had been ended.

He shrugged, unlocking his phone and going to his recent calls. Clearly, something had happened that had disconnected their call. He had a lot more to say, after all, and Maya was going to listen to everything that he had to say. So, he tapped her name in his call logs and sat there, waiting through the repetitive ringing for her beautiful voice to answer him.

It was wrong, a sober Lucas knew, to be dating Maya behind Josh's back. Of course, Maya and Lucas's relationship was mostly based on the physical factor. She came over after a fight with Josh and they would make out. When she was lonely, she showed up and they cuddled in bed and shared a make-out session.

For Lucas, it was a lot more than random hookups. He had loved Maya for years and had always wanted a chance with her. Through a series of his own stupid mistakes, though, he had ruined his chances with the blonde and she had started to date Joshua Matthews, a boy who was three years older and seemed to be everything that Maya could have possibly wanted in a boy.

Lately, though, Maya had been acting as though she had some sort of interest in Lucas as well. Her stares lingered just a little bit too long. She found random excuses to make physical contact with him. She was finding more opportunities for a hookup, even daring to sneak away at school and disappear somewhere together for them to have a quick couple of minutes tucked away in a janitor's closet or in a secluded stairwell. She was ditching Josh at times and refusing rides from her boyfriend, claiming that it was easier for Lucas to give her a ride or that she needed Lucas's help with something school related, just to spend some more time with him.

Which was why he wanted Maya to break up with Josh so badly. He needed Josh and Maya to break up, because he needed a chance with her. He needed to have her all to himself, because he loved her and he was sick and tired of sharing her.

He didn't want to be her dirty little secret anymore. He wanted to walk down the hallways holding her hands. He wanted her to run up to him after a football game and twirl her around before kissing her for the whole school to see. He wanted to go to parties and have her clinging to his side with his arm wrapped around her waist. He wanted to grind with her at dances, feeling her ass pressed up against his dick.

So, he was using his liquid courage to finally work up the nerve to tell Maya that he thought it was about damn time that she ended her relationship with Josh, because it wasn't real. The feelings were gone and she had moved on. It was about time she allowed herself to be happy, and the only way that she could be happy was to start dating Lucas, and to start dating him immediately.

There were complications to breaking up with Josh, of course. Just like there were complications to starting a relationship with Lucas. Riley Matthews, Maya's best friend, was the center of most of those problems and the common denominator in the issues that would arise. But, Lucas was sure that they would be able to work through whatever obstacles got in their way. After all, he and Maya could conquer anything together. They were meant to be together, because they were like a roaring fire. It was why most of their intimate moments happened by some sort of fire.

They were a couple that was driven completely by passion, and that meant that they would never grow tired of one another. They would always find something to spice up their relationship.

The secret of their relationship was not what made it so enticing. Lucas wasn't turned on by the fact that he had to hide his affair with Maya. And he knew that she didn't get any joy out of the secret. In fact, Maya felt guilty after every single hookup they had. She hated sneaking around behind Josh's back.

No, what made their relationship so enjoyable was the passion that fueled it. They were such polar opposites on the surface, but so similar at their cores, that they were pulled together. They needed one another and they were unable to fight the attraction that they felt for each other. The only way for them to truly be satisfied was for them to be together.

Lucas thought it was time to go public, and he wouldn't rest until Maya agreed with him.

"Ranger Rick, I told you-"

"I know, I know," Lucas slurred. "You don't wanna break his heart and that's awful nice o' you an' all, but that ain't no good reason to be keepin' us apart!" He protested, the drawl coming out stronger now, as he finished off his fourth bottle of beer that night.

"Cowboy, what do you think I'm gonna say? You think I'm just gonna call him up and tell him that we're over because I'm in love with my best friend? Because I've been cheating on him for the past two months with my best friend, who he's always been terrified of me leaving him for? I can't say that and I won't," Maya insisted and he knew that she was adamantly shaking her head, as though he could see her.

He knew that she was a little bit tipsy, because she had admitted to being in love with him. Those words had never left her mouth before, because sober Maya tried to act like whatever was between her and Lucas was nothing more than a fun time.

"You love me?"

"Don't get all cocky and arrogant, cowboy. That doesn't mean anything special," Maya replied, and he could picture those denim blue eyes rolling. "I'm a little tipsy, tonight, so don't take anything I have to say too seriously."

"Listen, I just want a fair chance, short stack," Lucas sighed.

"I'm dating _Josh!"_ Maya snapped.

"But what if you weren't? What if you just went up to him and told him that it's you. It ain't him, it's just you. Lie to him if you have to and tell him that you'll still be friends-but, I won't let you because we started off as just friends," Lucas went on, rambling off.

"Huckleberry, you and I can never be together. Do you even hear how ridiculous you sound?"

"Why are you tryin' to deny that you and I are perfect together? You have to admit that we kinda fit like a glove," he said slyly, a bit of a dirty undertone to his words.

"Ranger Rick, what's this all about? I thought you were okay with just messing around so I could blow off some steam?" Maya sighed.

"I don't wanna be a secret anymore! I wanna be your boyfriend. I wanna go to the movies together and put our hands in the popcorn at the same time and leave them there, with our fingers intertwined," Lucas blurted out, referencing back to the first time she had asked him out, back in the seventh grade when she had been trying to show her best friend how to make the first move when it came to boys.

"Don't be using my own words against me," Maya muttered. "And I was only asking that for Riley. Your ex-girlfriend. My best friend. The girl you just ended things with at the beginning of last summer, about four months ago? The girl you dated for _three years,"_ Maya said bitterly.

Lucas had started dating Riley after the incidents that had occurred on their first big field trip as high schoolers. They had gone to a ski lodge for their nature club and resolved a two-year long love triangle that had included both girls and himself. He had made the wrong choice, that he thought was the right choice. Right at the end of their junior year, he had finally realized how wrong he had been to pick Riley and their relationship had ended. He had been lucky that things had been fairly mutual, based on the fact that Riley was spending the summer hosting a summer camp at that same ski lodge.

They'd had a big blowout over Evan, an employee at the ski lodge who had taken a liking to Riley the first time they had gone and tried to cling to her every time they had gone after. He'd be working at the camp as well, and Lucas had used everybody's theory that he was a jealous monster in his favor.

Riley had admitted to having started to develop feelings for Evan, and told Lucas that he was right-she wasn't being fair to Lucas, or to Evan. So, they had agreed to end their relationship, but remain friends.

He didn't really care about remaining friends with Riley, but he knew that he'd lose Maya if he was no longer a part of Riley's life. No matter how strong his friendship with Maya was, it wouldn't last Riley's bitter resentment towards him. So, he had to do whatever it took to hold onto Riley, so that Maya stayed in his life. Because he couldn't lose her. He had always known her, and that was probably part of the reason that he picked Riley.

"Just tell Josh that it's all over now. You guys had a good run, but it's over now. And then you're goin' to come straight over here, because you're not just stringin' him along. You're stringin' me along and that's just wastin' precious time we could have together," Lucas insisted.

"Why are you pushing this? Can't you just…. Can't you just wait and give me a little time?" Maya sighed.

"No can do, Clutterbucket. This can't wait because _I_ can't wait," Lucas shook his head.

"Are you giving me an ultimatum?"

"Don't use big words like that. I'm drunk and stupid," Lucas whined.

"I am not breaking up with Josh," Maya snapped.

"It's so easy! Just one quick little step. Blurt it out and it'll be over before he knows it," Lucas went on.

"This isn't any of your business, Lucas," Maya said bitterly. "So mind your own business and leave my life alone for once in your life, _please,"_ she begged.

Normally, that would be all that It would take to get Lucas to soften up and do whatever she asked of him. But, not about this. Not this time. He needed to convince her and he was positive that this was his last chance. And if he didn't convince her tonight, he was going to lose everything.

So, every single ounce of liquid courage he had consumed tonight was going to push him to ignore the guilty conscience in the back of his head, scolding him to lay off and leave Maya alone to make her own decisions. He knew that it was wrong to pressure her, but it wasn't like she was anybody to lecture him about morals, when she was cheating on her boyfriend. He wasn't judging her though, because he knew that they were drawn together. The universe wanted Maya and Lucas to be together, no matter what it meant.

"It ain't my business to be all up in, I know," Lucas admitted. "But, I know you ain't in love with him, so just break up with him. I know that you're done with him, so break up with him and be with me!" Lucas said cheerfully.

"Huckleberry," Maya said, her teeth clenched. "You need to get over whatever fantasy you've concocted in your head that says that we're gonna get together. Because we _aren't._ There aren't any feelings between us. It's just fun, okay?" Maya insisted.

"You tryin' to convince me that, or yourself?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You have sex with Josh yet?"

"That's none of your business!"

"Did you?"

"Is this because of what happened last night?" Maya sighed, realization dawning on her. "God, Ranger Rick, it was a mistake, okay? We got carried away and we went too far. That never should have happened and it didn't mean _anything,"_ she informed him.

"You and I both know that's not true," Lucas said.

"We can't do this anymore, Huckleberry. You're way too attached to whatever it is that you think we have. Because, we don't have anything. We have hook-ups, and that's it," Maya snapped.

He heard that beep again, showing that she had once again hung up on him.

He had expected that, though. He knew that she was going to hang up on him if he kept going, especially if he pushed too far. And it was definitely pushing too far if brought up her lack of a sex life with Josh, and her very existent sex life with Lucas.

Not that it was heavily active. They had had sex one time, the previous night, when they were supposed to be studying for AP Biology. It had been perfect and it had been wild-exactly what Lucas had always imaged for his first time with Maya. Especially with how many rounds they had had that night.

But, Maya had prolonged having sex with Josh. She had sworn that she wouldn't have sex with him, because she wasn't ready. But, she had confessed to Riley that she wasn't sure of her feelings for him. But, she had been the one to initiate it with Lucas that night, which showed that she really did love Lucas. Her feelings for him had to be real, because she was rejecting Josh, her boyfriend, so that her first time could be with the right person.

So, he dialed her number once again and waited through the rings until she answered, because she knew that he was going to answer. She always answered.

"Ranger Rick, why do you think this is a good idea? Why do you think that I want to be with you?"

"Because you wouldn't keep answering me if you weren't thinkin' all of this," Lucas said smugly.

"I've hung up on you twice already."

"But you keep answering me, every single time that I call you back."

"This was supposed to be a no pressure kind of thing," Maya reminded him.

"I know, I know," Lucas sighed. "You're right. So, just do what you gotta do."

"Thank you," Maya sighed, the relief evident in her tone.

"But, if I were you? I'd tell him that it was over."

"Well, you're not me."

"Just do it."

"And then what?"

"Get your ass over here so we can have a repeat of last night, but then you can stay with me and cuddle with me and I won't have to send you off to go meet up with your boyfriend," Lucas said, the resentfulness towards Josh clear in his voice.

"Will you please just stop?" Maya pleaded.

"You're not being fair to him, Maya. You're stringin' him along. And it ain't fair to me, 'cause you're just wastin' previous time that we could have been together," He pointed out.

"Can you not make me feel any worse than I already feel about everything?" Maya snapped. "Do you know how awful it is to be breaking Josh's heart? I'm lying to him and he's all that I've ever wanted. All because I like sneaking around with you," Maya was shouting now, the anger clear in her voice.

But, she wasn't angry with Lucas. She was angry with herself. She was angry that she was acting in a way that she had always sworn she would never act. She was doing to Josh what had always been done to her, and she hated herself for it.

She wasn't supposed to be one of the people who just left. She was the person who was left. But, there she was, cheating on Josh with Lucas and giving both of them a reason to accuse her of being one of those people who just leaves. No matter what she chose to do, she was the type of person she had always tried so hard to never become.

"This can't wait," Maya sighed. "I have to end it."

"Rip if off just like a band-aid!" Lucas encouraged her.

"You keep saying the same things, you know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know I said. But I'll say it again. We all know you ain't in love with him, so just break up with him," Lucas said.

"Okay," Maya sighed.

"The way you look at me makes it possible to pretend that-wait, what?"

"You're right," Maya said. "I'm not in love with Josh, so I'm going to break up with him. And then I'm going to come straight over to your place, so have your window unlocked for me, and we're going to figure out how to turn whatever it is that we have into something _real,"_ Maya replied.

And the grin that shot through Lucas's face as Maya hung up the phone that time was so wide that it threatened to split his entire face in half.

He had what he had always wanted. He had his dream girl and he didn't have to share her. Nobody could make him share her, because she was all his now. And they were perfect together. They were meant to be together.

He knew it. He had always known it. Their entire school knew it, which was why they were always voted cutest couple in the yearbook. Josh knew it, as Maya had clearly admitted during their conversation. And now, even Maya knew that the universe wanted Maya and Lucas to be together.

All it had taken was a drunken Lucas calling Maya up in the middle of the night and confessing his feelings for her. It had just taken a little convincing and then she was all his. He had just needed to get Maya to break up with Josh.


	6. He Could Be The One

**Scream Me a Love Song  
A Collection of GMW Song Fics  
NO. 6: He Could Be the One**

 _ **A/N: So, I've gotten a few requests for a Miss Missing You Lucaya fic and I really am working on it. I'm just having a hard time making a story that will be short enough to be a one-shot but that also makes sense with how I want to develop it. So, don't feel like you're being ignored because I really am trying to give it to you! I had this idea the other day when I heard an old Hannah Montana song, though and I had to get it out and then this happened. It's sort of long, but definitely worth it (in my biased opinion). As always, I can't wait to hear what you think.**_

* * *

Joshua Matthews was everything that Maya Hart had always wanted.

He was smooth and charming and handsome. He was older and mysterious. On top of that, he was an _artist_ which meant that he had a troubled soul. He was the most sought after boy that she knew, and that was saying a lot, because she was best friends with Lucas Friar, the king of Abigail Adams High School.

But, whenever he showed up at anything where Maya's classmates were going to be, she saw the way other girls looked at him. And whenever she and Riley showed up at his campus so that her best friend could visit her uncle, she saw the jealous glares that she got from girls as soon as she approached his dorm room.

Maya had long ago accepted that Josh was never going to have feelings for her. She had tried her hardest to get over her ridiculous crush on him, knowing that he was right to say they could never be together. There were too many issues. He was three years older than her. He lived in a different state. And he was her best friend's uncle.

They would never be able to work out. There were far too many issues and a romantic relationship between the pair would lead to nothing but trouble.

Long ago, she had forgotten about his promise of "someday" and accepted that, for them, "someday" was never going to come. And that was fine, because at least she didn't have to watch the only other guy she had ever cared about fawning over her best friend.

Riley and Lucas Friar had broken up over the summer, after their freshman year. Their romance had been short lived and they had both realized that there wasn't any difference in their relationship between friends and lovers. So, they had decided to find somebody who they truly loved.

By the middle of sophomore year, Riley was dating Charlie and he had been brought into their Six Clique.

Lucas, however, was still single. He hadn't even gone on another date since the break up with Riley. Not because he had been heartbroken, but because there was only one girl that he wanted, and when he had tried to get with Maya, she had turned him down flat.

She wasn't going to be a second option. He hadn't wanted her at the ski lodge, so there was no reason that he should suddenly want her after he and Riley had failed as a relationship. If he didn't want her in the beginning, he had given up any chance with her.

Anyways, Maya was over him and she had put all of her focus back on Josh.

The smooth-talking, modern-day James Dean with the rock star personality. The boy who was everything that any girl could ever want.

During the summer between her junior and senior years. Josh had started to see Maya in a different light. They'd spent more time together than ever, because he had been staying at his brother's house taking a summer course at the college to rack up some extra credits. He was only a junior in college, but he was starting to plan for his future after his college years. He'd been overloading his classes to try to help him figure things out since the second semester of his sophomore year.

He and Maya had been together every single day and she had gone with him to help him set up his dorm room. That was why, that afternoon in early September, Maya was sitting on Josh's raised twin bed with her legs crossed in front of her, leaning back on her elbows while Josh sat with his legs crossed pretzel style in front of him, a guitar in his lap as he strummed at the chords.

"I didn't even know you could play guitar," Maya observed, watching his fingers knowingly pluck the chords as though it were second nature to him.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," Josh shrugged, flashing her that half-grin-half-smirk with the single dimple on his left cheek.

"I thought I learned a lot about you these past few months!" Maya protested. "What can you play on that thing?" She asked, shaking out her blonde curls.

"Anything," he shrugged. "Most songs consist of the same four chords. Whaddya wanna hear? But, I only take requests if you sing along," he smirked at her, raising up a single eyebrow.

"What makes you think I can sing?" Maya made a face.

"We spent an awful lot of time together this summer. I drove you into the city once a week for your art portfolio. I've heard you sing in the car. And I've heard you talk about your dreams and you mentioned music as one of them. So, give me a song and start singing," he teased, unfolding his legs just enough to playfully kick her outstretched leg.

"We spent most of these past months talking about me, didn't we?" she winced.

"I wanted to," He stated. "I always want to know all about you. You fascinate me, Maya Hart," he told her honestly.

"I do?" Maya asked, biting down on her bottom lip.

"Don't do that," He instructed, taking his guitar and leaning it up against the bed.

"Don't do what?" She frowned.

"Bite down on your lip like that. Because…it makes me want to do things," he admitted sheepishly, reaching back to scratch at the nape of his neck.

"What do you mean?" Maya wondered.

"Don't you know the effects you have on people? Especially guys? God, Maya…seeing you lying on my bed like that and making that face and doing that with your hair…it's hard enough to resist you on an ordinary day," he admitted, a slight tint of pink flushing his cheeks.

"You…wait, Josh…are you saying that you like me?" Maya furrowed her eyebrows together as she studied him.

"You've always known that, Maya. I guess what I'm getting at is….well, remember when you told me that you were in it for the long game?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, remember at the ski lodge when I told you the same thing? That we could play the long game and see how everything worked out for us?"

"You told me that we were waiting for someday," Maya reminded him.

"Yeah," Josh shook his head, a sheepish grin on his face. "I don't think I could have been any vaguer if I had tried," he admitted.

"It's okay," she shrugged, lowering her head.

"Anyways, what I'm getting at is…Maya, someday is pretty damn close and that scares me," he told her.

"It scares you?" Maya looked up, meeting his golden brown eyes with her denim blue ones. "Why would that scare you?"

"Because the way that I feel about you? It terrifies me," he chuckled.

"Why? I don't understand," she frowned.

"You're seventeen now," Josh observed. "And that means that, legally, the age difference doesn't really matter for us anymore-at least, not in New York," he shrugged his shoulders.

"And?" Maya was prompting him, waiting for him to make the first move.

She thought she knew what he was getting at, but with Josh, it was hard to ever know for sure. She would never truly know where she stood with him and that sort of scared her, but it also sort of excited her. Constantly being kept on her toes could be a little exciting.

"And, no matter what happens, I'm moving to New York after graduation. And I'll be around all next summer for an internship I got lined up," he went on, leaning back on his elbows slightly.

"And?"

"And I've been talking to Riley and she….well, she isn't all that opposed to having you for an aunt if it means that you're going to be happy," he said, unable to fight back the sheepish grin anymore.

Maya could feel her face splitting in half from her grin. She didn't want to fight it, and even if she had wanted to fight it, she wouldn't have been able to. Josh was finally telling her everything that she had always dreamt of hearing from him. He was telling her that the long game was over. That someday was today. That they could actually be together, and that excited her in a way that she had never before experienced.

"So…we could be together?" Maya questioned.

"Well, yeah, we could….but, the thing is-when it comes to you, I always want to do something stupid," Josh lowered his head as the blush returned.

Maya smirked.

Josh may not want to do something stupid, but Maya had always been known for doing things that other people regarded as stupid. So, she leaned across the bed and pushed her lips up against his, giving Josh her first kiss.

Because Maya felt the same way when it came to Josh-when she was with him, she couldn't help herself from doing something stupid. But, when it came to Josh, nothing seemed all that stupid.

* * *

"You and _Josh?"_

Maya slammed her locker shut on her first day of her senior year, rolling her eyes at the annoyed tone coming from Lucas Friar, her best guy friend.

"What about it?" She cocked an eyebrow, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You're dating him?"

"We're _talking,"_ Maya shrugged. "Nothing official yet. We're taking things slow," she explained.

"You two have been taking things slow ever since freshman year," Lucas sighed, the relief evident in his tone.

"But we did kiss the other night," Maya said thoughtfully, adjusting the strap her backpack on her shoulder and turning to start heading to her first period class-AP US Government, which she had with all the rest of her friends in the Six Clique (plus Charlie, but everybody knew he was only there because of Riley.)

"You did _what?"_ Lucas gasped, taking quick strides until he caught up with her and then slowed his pace so that he was walking side by side with her short frame.

"I kissed Josh," she admitted, feeling the smile starting to spread across her face. "I kissed Josh and, Lucas…this time, I think it's really going to lead to something. I actually think that we're going to be together," she confessed.

"Why are you doing this to me, Maya?" Lucas sighed.

"Doing _what_ to you? I'm just telling you about me developing relationship with Josh because you're my _best friend,"_ Maya said, with pure innocence flooding her tone.

"You know how I feel about you, Maya," Lucas scolded.

"Are you still on about that? I thought you got over it when I turned you down," Maya frowned. "I didn't realize that you still liked me…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," she apologized.

"It's fine," Lucas shrugged. "I gotta get over it eventually. So, you and Josh?" he asked, with a tight smile on his face.

Maya knew that she shouldn't continue to talk about her relationship with Josh, but Lucas was trying to be good. He was trying to listen to her and care about her life. If she changed the subject, things would just be awkward for the rest of the duration of their friendship. It would strain the friendship and put it at risk.

So, she continued to talk about Josh, because she wanted to make sure that their friendship could remain strong.

The best bet for them to do, was to dive into the awkwardness. They had to take it on headfirst, so that they could come to terms with it and start to move on. It was the only way.

"I think I'm really falling for him. Like, when he smiles? I can't help it, but my heart just sort of….stops for a second. And you know me and I'm never mushy like this," Maya shrugged her shoulders.

"That's great. I'm really happy for you, Maya," Lucas grinned at her.

But, it was Lucas saying her name that filled her stomach with butterflies. She had never noticed it before, but maybe he always had.

* * *

After her conversation with Lucas, Maya knew that she was about to face some serious problems.

Because, she was in love with Josh and she always had been. She was finally getting her chance to be with him. That should be enough to send her over the moon. She should be happier than she had ever been in her life, because she finally had the boy of her dreams.

But, then there was Lucas and he had some effect on her that he just shouldn't have. He was her best friend's ex-boyfriend and he had chosen another girl over Maya before. She lived to tease him and he was one of her best friends. She shouldn't be secretly pining over him and wishing that she could have a chance at a relationship with him.

Especially now that she had a chance with Josh, because he was special. There was just something special about Joshua Matthews that had attracted Maya to him from the first time she had ever seen him. As soon as she had spotted him when she was at an age to realize that boys didn't have cooties and that she might actually be attracted to a male someday, Josh had stuck out to her among every other guy that she knew.

He was _special_ to her and that was all there was to it.

She knew that, because he had an effect on her that nobody else had ever been able to have. Whenever he was near her, she turned into a sentimental, romantic sap. She gave into feelings of hope and she believed that something good could happen to her in her life. She felt like she actually deserved to have good things happen to her for the first time in her life.

For the first time, she believed in hope and it was all because of Josh.

Knowing all of this, she knew that she had to push her feelings for Lucas aside and get over him. Because he just wasn't worth losing Josh over. Not when Josh was so important to her and her future. Not when Josh meant so much to her and was finally giving her a chance. He was finally going to try to be with her and give their relationship a fair chance.

It would be stupid of Maya to give that up.

But, with Lucas…it as different.

She was the same girl that she had always been, and she liked that she didn't seem like a stranger to herself. She loved being in control of herself and knowing that no matter what happened, she wasn't in danger of losing herself because of a boy.

However, Lucas did manage to take her breath away.

It was hard for her to even speak whenever he was around her, and that should be a clue that Lucas was the one for her.

After all, a relationship with Josh came with baggage of its own. Why should she give up a chance of happiness with Lucas, just because of a few issues when she was choosing to be with Josh in spite of any issues.

It wasn't fair to Lucas and it definitely wasn't fair to herself.

She had to figure out her feelings and she had to pick one of the boys. Even if it meant breaking one of the boys' hearts, she had to do it because it was what was best for everybody involved.

But, she was going to have to figure out which boy was for her, without letting either of the boys know that she had to pick between them. If she dared try to pick between them and let them know that a new triangle had developed, chaos would ensue. After all, neither of the boys really liked the other one now, without thinking that they were competing for Maya's heart.

It was safer for Lucas to think that Maya wasn't interested in him and for Josh to think that he was guaranteed a chance with her.

But, that would mean that Josh was going to be blindsided if she ever decided that she wanted Lucas. In the end, Lucas was going to be the only one left unharmed by the development of her plan. But, it was the best plan that she could think of. Maybe that should say something about the entire situation.

Maya didn't care, though.

She had never been one to listen to her heart. She didn't allow her self-conscious mind to make decisions for her. Instead, she left everything up to her best friend. It was Riley's job to tell her what she was thinking and what she needed to do. It was the only thing that kept her sane. And, it gave her a scapegoat when things blew up in her face.

"Bay window," Maya said, sliding into her seat in the front row of her first period class.

She didn't spare her best friend a second glance. She just sat down and stared directly ahead, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared at the blackboard in front of her and the desk where her best friend's father and her favorite teacher was sitting.

"Huh?" Riley frowned, turning in her seat to shoot her best friend a confused look. "Why? What happened? We were only apart for ten minutes!"

"Bay window," Maya shook her head, refusing to give any answers. "Bay window right after school," she declared.

"Lucas, what happened to her?" Riley frowned, looking at the boy sitting behind the blonde with that same confused look on her face.

"Don't ask me," Lucas shrugged helplessly. "She was fine when we left her locker and somewhere on the way from there to here, she broke," he explained.

"Riley, just promise me that we can meet at the bay window _right_ after school," Maya said through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, yeah, sure-of course," Riley nodded, concern taking over from the confusion as she studied her best friend, trying to figure out what had happened so quickly.

* * *

Lucas was strong and he was fast. As he liked to boast, he was strong as a horse and he didn't even try. He was just naturally gifted. And when it came to his speed and agility? That was something that couldn't be competed with.

He was the best of the best at everything that he did. He was incapable of losing, because he was close to perfect.

Which was why Maya and he had butted heads so often when they had first met. While they were the best of friends, their friendship consisted of them ridiculing one another to no end. They tortured one another. Especially Maya. She had an arsenal of nicknames and insults to toss Lucas's name, all inspired by her favorite thing-his Texas roots.

Everybody had always assumed that he and Riley were perfect for one another, because of their adorable similarities. They were the same. They were almost identical when it came to their personalities. They were like a summer rain-the perfect break from the ungodly heat. It was unexpected, but it was nice. Exactly what one had been needing. And it was _calm._

Maya and Lucas, however, were like _fire._

They contrasted one another. If they were like rain, they were like a thunderstorm and Lucas was the lightning. Maya was the thunder that followed closely behind him. She was a reaction to everything that he did. Because they needed one another and they played off of one another.

Nobody would ever argue that they were the same, because they weren't. They were polar opposites. They were everything that didn't make sense. But, they fit together perfectly. They were like one another's missing link. Two lost souls who had finally found one another.

The sparks that flew whenever they were together were hard to miss. In fact, they were undeniable. Even Riley had never been able to deny that there was something between Maya and Lucas, even back when she had been a lovesick puppy dog over the boy.

Even when she was dating him, she had always known that he would never be completely satisfied until he had Maya. Without their constant bickering, he got bored. He needed Maya to keep him on his toes. To keep him interested. Her constant teasing left him never knowing where he stood with her, and that enticed him. He lived their little games.

That was why he showed up at school dances wearing a cowboy hat. It was why he played up his accent whenever she was around. He kept a few secrets from all of his friends, so that when she was in a bad mood, he could bring up the fact that he had once ridden a sheep or that he came from actual cowboys, knowing that that was going to cheer her up and give her something to smile about.

Maya, of course, put just as much effort into their little game. But, that was mostly because she thought about him so often. Lucas was always on her mind, after all. She liked to say that it was because she wanted new material to torture him about, but it was really because every little thing in her life reminded her of him.

Slowly, he was driving her insane.

She was going absolutely crazy because of her feelings for Lucas. Crazier than she had ever been for her feelings for Josh, as hard as that was to believe.

She wasn't freaking out. She didn't become incapable of forming sentences. She didn't do stupid things that were absolutely humiliating. Instead, she was just thinking about him nonstop and drawn to him. She wanted to spend her time with him and she found herself unable to be truly happy without him.

It was a different type of feeling than what she felt for Josh, but it made her feel more in control of herself. She felt _better_ as long as she had him.

Josh was everything she had ever wanted, but she never felt like she was completely being herself around him. She always felt like she was playing a character. Like she was some lovesick teenage girl. And she hated herself for acting like that, because she had always sworn that she would never be that type of girl.

Lucas allowed her to feel like she was still Maya Hart, the strongest girl at Abigail Adams High School. When she was with Lucas, she didn't feel like a weakling. Instead, she felt brave and capable of anything.

Maybe Josh took down her walls and allowed her to feel like she could have everything she wished for, but Lucas allowed her to keep her walls up. She could still guard herself, knowing that sometimes, bad things happened. But, other times, good things happened, if you were truly lucky.

And with the way that he set her heart racing, she found it hard to convince herself that the reaction she had to Josh was better than what she had for Lucas. After all, wasn't it better to protect your heart until you knew that you could truly trust a person not to break it?

Wasn't that what love was?

Giving somebody the power to break your heart, but trusting them not to?

She wasn't sure if she could trust Josh not to break her heart. He made her feel like magic and fairytales were real, after all. The result was that she believed that people were incapable of hurting one another, unless they were evil. And she didn't have that tendency to believe that people were naturally evil when she was with Josh.

But, she knew that Lucas would never hurt her. He had told her that he could never hurt her so many times and she had always been able to see it in his face that he meant it. Even when he had picked Riley over her, he had tried his hardest to prevent her from getting hurt in the process and he had only made his decision when Maya had prompted him to go and tell Riley that he loved her.

So, maybe it just made the most sense to be with Lucas, because she could protect herself, while knowing that he would never hurt her. That he _couldn't_ hurt her.

* * *

"So, what's going on with you?" Riley asked as the girls settled into the bay window after school that day.

"I'm in love with Josh," Maya blurted out.

"I knew that, already," Riley rolled her eyes. "And he talked to me about that. I already told him that I don't care if you two date, because I can deal with you being my aunt if it makes you happy," she shrugged.

"I'm also in love with Lucas," Maya winced as the words left her mouth, dreading what Riley's reaction would be.

"What?" Riley screeched, bouncing up and down in her seat excitedly. "When did this happen? I need details! Oh my god, _yes!"_ she beamed, a wide smile threatening to split her entire face in half.

"Wait…are you _happy_ about that?" Maya asked in confusion.

"Of _course_ I am! Why do you think Lucas and I broke up? He was always going to be in love with you," Riley rolled her eyes, leaning back against the pillows on her window seat.

"Wait, you knew that Lucas was in love with me and you never said anything?"

"What was I gonna say? He tried to tell you himself and you lost it on him," Riley pointed out. "Now, what's going on and what made you realize that you love him?"

"It's just…I think that I'm really digging on his vibe, you know?" Maya lowered her head, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

"What does that even mean?" Riley laughed.

"I don't know," Maya threw her hands in the air in defeat. "He really blows me away," she tried again.

"Alright, whatever, don't tell me," Riley rolled her eyes. "Instead, you can tell me what you're gonna do about this whole Josh and Lucas triangle mess," she challenged.

"I don't _know_ what to do. That's why I came to you for help," Maya sighed.

"I can't make this decision for you," Riley shook her head.

"You knew that Lucas loved me. You mean that you can't tell me what guy you think makes me happier?"

"They both make you happy. Just in different ways. So, I need you to tell me what you like about each of them. I need you to _talk_ to me and be honest with me," Riley told her, locking her brown eyes onto Maya's blye ones.

"I don't know what you want me to say," Maya shook her head.

"Just talk to me. Tell me about Lucas and tell me about Josh," Riley encouraged. "Tell me how they make you feel and what you like about them. Tell me _anything_ about them, and then I can help you make the right decision," she promised.

"Ring power?" Maya asked, flashing a small smile as she held up her hand, showing her best friend ring.

"Ring power," Riley smiled right back, clasping Maya's hand with her own ring-clad hand.

"Alright, well, get comfortable, because we could be here for a while," Maya smirked, pulling her legs up so that they were crossed in front of her and folding her hands in her lap.

"Let's get started then."

* * *

Maya took a deep breath before she started giving Riley her explanation.

"Josh is special. He's just…god, Riley, he's just so _special._ He's different from anybody else that I know. He's mysterious and he's older and he's mature and he's got this whole troubled-artist vibe going on. I've wanted him for so long, because of this special effect he's always had on me, and now I finally have a chance. How could I turn that down?" she sighed, running a hand through her blonde curls to show her distress.

The girls were quiet for a second, each waiting for the other one to make the first move. Maya wanted Riley to have come up with the answer right then and there. Riley wanted Maya to keep talking, knowing that she would eventually figure things out on her own, if she just kept on talking.

"He's got this tendency to turn me into this romantic sap who believes in fairytales and happy endings. When I'm with him, I feel like I truly deserve to be happy," Maya blushed, knowing how silly that had to sound when it was coming from Maya Hope-is-for-Suckers Hart.

"You believe in hope?" Riley asked, shooting her best friend a confused glance. "And you think that's because of _Josh?_ Maya, don't you remember when you almost got arrested for vandalizing the park?"

"Yeah?" Maya cocked an eyebrow, not really understanding what Riley was trying to get at with the memory.

"Maya, you believed in hope way back then. You decorated that park with this gorgeous painting that spelled out that one word. Because you started to believe that maybe, just maybe, hope wasn't for suckers," Riley explained.

"And you think I just suddenly started to believe in hope by some miracle or something? It wasn't decided on a whim," Maya rolled her eyes.

"Josh hadn't been around for _months_ when you started to believe in hope again. It had been almost a _year_ since the last time you and I saw him. So don't try to feed me some bullshit line about how Josh caused your new mindset," Riley said adamantly.

"Then who do you think made that possible?"

"Your friends? Farkle and Smackle and Zay and Lucas and me!"

"Riley, that was in the middle of the triangle. You guys all swore that I wasn't acting like me when that happened," Maya reminded her.

"It was Lucas…."Riley said softly, trailing off as she lowered her head. "Lucas made you want to be a better person. Lucas made you believe in hope," she gasped.

"That's not true," Maya insisted.

"Then tell me why you like Lucas, because if you swear that that's the truth about Josh, it means that you should forget about this would-be triangle and just pick him already. Spare us all the drama," Riley challenged.

"You wanna hear about Lucas?" Maya srolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll tell you all about how I feel about him," she sighed, throwing her hands up in a sign of surrender, even though Riley's demands hadn't been all that hostile and she hadn't begged half as much as she had been prepared to.

"I can't breathe around him," Maya confessed. "I feel like I'm drowning. But, unlike with Josh, everything just makes sense with him. Because I'm still Maya. I'm still strong and I've got my armor up. I feel safe, because I don't lose a piece of myself with him. And…well, he keeps me on my toes and that excites me. I sort of like never really knowing where I stand with him. I love our little game. It lets me know that even though we have this constant guessing game where we're almost at one another's throats….he loves me, and he always has and he probably always will," Maya found herself smiling as she gushed about Lucas and her feelings for him.

"Maya, did you ever stop to think that…maybe, Lucas might be the one?" Riley wondered, shrugging her shoulders and looking at her best friend with the most innocent of expressions.

"Yeah," Maya replied. "And then he picked you."

"Wait a second," Riley shook her head, turning towards Maya with a far too serious expression for the quirky brunette on her face.

"What? Do you not remember the ski lodge and the short lived relationship that Zay dubbed as Rucas?" Maya rolled her eyes.

"No," Riley shook her head. "You don't get to do that. You don't get to say that Lucas _picked_ me over you. And you don't get to use that as a reason for why you don't believe that he's the right choice. That's not your excuse, because that's not the truth," Riley crossed her arms over her chest.

"Riley, he gave you a god damn purple jellybean and told you he'd buy you a sandwich and a drink and cake. He told you he wanted you to talk to everybody else a little bit less!" Maya snapped.

"Because you _told_ him to! Maya, you told him in this very bay window that it didn't matter who he picked because he picked _me,_ and we all watched as his face crumbled because he didn't _want_ to pick me. You _made_ him pick me. And then at the ski lodge he watched you swoon over Josh and act like your relationship with Lucas would just be chaos and trouble and destined to end in failure. You _made_ him pick me," Riley accused.

"Alright, alright-so maybe I shoved him in your direction. But, do you know why that didn't change anything?" Maya challenged her best friend, cocking an eyebrow.

"Why? What stupid excuse do you have to keep yourself from being happy with Lucas?" Riley sighed, throwing her hands in the air in defeat.

"He didn't fight for me," Maya replied.

Riley was silent after that. She knew that she couldn't say anything that would change that fact. Because, Lucas hadn't tried to fight for Maya. He had given her what he had thought she wanted, because he always gave Maya what she wanted. But, that time, he had been wrong about what Maya wanted. And now, he had to pay the price.

* * *

Maya was sitting in the park that she had 'vandalized' all those years ago, with her sketch pad up against her knees while she worked on a charcoal piece, swiping away to create lines and curves of all different widths and lengths. She was working hard on something without any idea of what it would become, when her thoughts were interrupted by an all too familiar voice whispering her name softly.

She lifted her head up, turning around her slightly so that she could peer at the speaker from over her shoulder.

Mentally, she cursed. She should have known that he would find her there. That this would be the first place he would have looked to find her. He knew her like the back of his hand, after all. And when he wanted to find her, he always seemed to know exactly where she was, especially when she didn't want to be found by anybody else.

And she never really minded it, because he had this way of making her feel like everything she did was perfect. Like, when she ran away to find some isolated paradise and drown her thoughts in her artwork, she was doing something that was acceptable. She never felt like she was running away from her problems like a coward when he was the one who found her. Instead, she felt like she was smart, knowing that being on her own would make all of her decisions that much easier.

But, this one time, when she was thinking about him and what she was supposed to do about her feelings for him, she didn't really want him around. She just wanted the privacy for once. She wanted to be left alone for the first time in her life.

"I knew I'd find you here," Lucas sighed, taking a seat on the edge of the bench, sitting down besides her feet which were pulled up onto the old bench with her, legs bent at the knee so that she could work on her sketch in the easiest manner.

"I've gotta find some new hiding places," Maya smirked, shaking her head as she went on drawing.

"That would keep things interesting for me," Lucas nodded, that boy-next-door grin with the two perfect dimples flashing across his face.

"Wouldn't wanna bore you or anything," Maya agreed, unable to stop herself from smiling at their easy, back and forth banter.

"You could never bore me, shortstop," Lucas assured her, placing a hand on the top of her knee and giving it a gentle squeeze. "Now, you wanna tell me why you're hiding out here? Because I know that you only ever come out here when you're really freaking out," he flashed her a concerned grin as he studied her, trying to get some sort of a reaction from her.

"How do you know me so well?" Maya sighed, closing her sketchbook and stuffing it in the bag that she had stashed away underneath the park bench.

"Because I pay attention to you," he rolled his eyes. "Now, what's going on with you? Did Josh do something? Because I'll kill him if he hurt you," Lucas promised, suddenly serious as his hunter green eyes searched her for some sign of trouble.

"This isn't about Josh," Maya promised. "Or, well, it is, but it's nothing that he did. It's about me and my feelings," she explained.

"You having second thoughts or something?" Lucas wondered, grabbing her legs and pulling on them, so that her legs were stretched out straight and resting in his lap.

"I'm just a little bit torn," Maya admitted. "I kind of have feelings for somebody else," she confessed.

"Oh yeah?" Lucas asked, a smile beginning to stretch across his face. "Anyone I may now?" he asked innocently, rubbing at her legs in the way that she loved, where he took care of the shin splints that she got from her place on the cross country team.

"Nah," Maya nodded, deciding to play along. "Well, actually…you know, you might. You guys have a lot in common, actually. You're both a couple of huckleberries," she teased, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Now, I've just got one question about that….what exactly does it mean to be a huckleberry?" Lucas asked her, tilting his head to the side and raising an innocent eyebrow towards his hairline.

"It's a dude from Texas," Maya answered quickly.

"Is that so? Because, as far as I can remember….you never called Zay a huckleberry. And he once stood up in the middle of Mr. Matthews's class and shouted 'yee-haw'," he pointed out, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Zay isn't a moral compass," Maya rolled her eyes.

"I'm not a moral compass," Lucas snorted. "You should know that better than anybody else," he challenged.

"Well if you don't believe me about what my insult means, you tell me what it means," she insisted, sticking out a bottom lip in a dramatic pout.

"You see, I watched this old movie back in Texas. It's Pappy Joe's favorite, you know, so I watched it at least once a year with him. It was called _Tombstone_ and they referred to a whole bunch of people as huckleberries. They meant it as, "I'm the man you're looking for"," he explained.

"I've never seen that movie before in my life," Maya said flatly.

"Yeah, I figured that you never saw that movie. So, I did some research 'cause I figured that the writers had to have gotten it from somewhere. And, back in the Arthurian Lore, the knights used to be given Huckleberry Garlands whenever they helped out a damsel in distress. It started off as meaning 'I'm your hero'," he explained to her casually, still massaging her legs.

"What are you getting at?" Maya wondered.

"Clearly I'm not doing a very good job at explaining this to you," Lucas sighed, pulling on her legs so that she was almost sitting in his lap, her legs hanging over the edge of the bench.

And then, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against her own, sliding his lids from her calves, up to her hips. He ran his hands up her waist, knotting one into her hair and tugging at the blonde curls.

Maya's arms wrapped around his neck, pulling herself in closer to him as she kissed him back, deepening the kiss. Their tongues collided, and Maya quickly realized that this kiss was nothing like the soft and sweet kiss she had shared with Josh a few nights before. Instead, this was something full of passion that perfectly summed up her relationship with Lucas.

For the first time in Maya's life, everything made sense to her. The stars seemed to slowly align for her, as everything seemed to fall into place. And because of that, she couldn't bring herself to deny her true feelings any longer.

She was into Lucas. She was _so_ into Lucas.

He was everything that she wanted and she wasn't going to play games anymore. She wasn't going to try to be with Josh because a childhood fantasy seemed to finally be coming true. She wasn't going to worry about Riley's reaction, when Riley was dating somebody else. Instead, she was going to do what would make her happy, for the first time in her life, without thinking about the effects it could have on other people in her life.

When Lucas pulled back from her, gasping for air, he pressed their forwards together. They took deep breaths, their breathing heavy as they locked eyes. They were almost panting, struggling to get the air back into their lungs after the contact they had made for such a long period of time.

And they were silent as they studied one another, waiting for who was going to say something first. For who was going to speak up and break the tension that the kiss had caused. But, neither one of them knew what they were supposed to say, because neither one of them knew what the other one's reaction to the kiss was going to be. Neither one of them knew what the right thing to do was. Lucas was terrified that he had ruined everything with Maya and Maya was terrified that Lucas had realized that he had made a horrible mistake, and was going to tell her that she should forget that anything had happened between them.

"So," Lucas said softly.

"So," Maya gulped.

"You think that, maybe, you'd be okay with being…I don't know….maybe you'd want to be a huckleberry's girlfriend?" he wondered, a sheepish grin spreading across his face.

"Ranger Rick," Maya bit down on her bottom lip, shaking her head. "I've got a confession to make," she leaned in close to him, about to whisper in his ear.

"What?" Lucas paled, the fear taking over his face.

"I happen to be obsessed with Camelot and King Arthur. I knew all about the Huckleberry reference," she giggled, before pressing her lips up against his again, giving him his answer.

* * *

Maya took a deep breath as she stood outside of Josh's dorm room later that night. She had to tell him that she had changed her mind. That, somewhere along the road, without realizing it, she had stopped playing the long game because it just wasn't what she wanted anymore. And she had to let him know that she had picked Lucas, even though Josh had never known there was a choice.

Lucas was waiting downstairs, outside the building in his truck. And as much as Maya wanted to race back there and mark her territory after seeing the ogling girls drooling over the cowboy in the lifted pick-up truck, she knew that she had to give Josh some time to process this information. She had to try not to crush him and break his heart completely in two. Because, as happy as she was with Lucas….Josh had never seen it coming. He hadn't expected it because he had believed that he was all that Maya wanted.

To be fair, Maya had thought that as well. She had been blindsided by her feelings for Lucas coming back and she hated them for the time that she had come back. It had been horribly unfair to everybody taking part in this quickly resolved triangle.

Knowing that she was going to have to tell him eventually, Maya bit the bullet and started to softly knock on Josh's door. When he opened it, as tired as he looked, his entire face lit up at the sight of the short blonde with the mild mane of long curls. He reached out, ready to wrap his arms around in a hug and leaning in to kiss her. She ducked her head to the side, so that he only got her cheek, however, and met him in the hug, only to keep him from pulling her in too close.

"What's wrong?" Josh asked, staring down at her with furrowed eyebrows and a deep crease above his nose, showing just how confused he was.

"We need to talk," Maya sighed, squirming out of his embrace and entering his dorm room, grateful that his roommate wasn't around.

"About what?" He asked cautiously, closing the door behind him and following her into the carpeted room.

"You and me. The long game. Someday," Maya shrugged, pulling out his desk chair and hopping up onto the desk itself, sitting with her legs hanging over the edge, dangling in the air until she settled them onto the desk chair.

"You're acting weird. What's going on Maya?" Josh asked again, standing in the middle of the room with his arms crossed.

"I liked you for a really long time. Because you were so different from everybody else that I knew, but so similar to _me,"_ she explained. "You were special, despite how I was originally attracted to you because it meant I could be a part of Riley's family and that was what I always wanted," she admitted.

"But?"

"But, somewhere along the lines, you became like….it was like I was trying to prove something. I had liked you for so long, that it was like I was just waiting for the day that you admitted to liking me back, so that I could tell everybody that I hadn't been making a total idiot out of myself all those years," she sighed.

"And?"

"And you've got this way of making me turn into a mushy romantic just by looking at me, because you fill me up with all of this hope. And, for a long time, I thought you were the reason that I got like that, because when I started to believe in hope, it was when you showed up the ski lodge and promised me someday," Maya explained to him.

"And now I'm telling you that someday is _today_ but you don't want that. Why?"

"Because the real reason that I started to believe in hope was because of _Lucas,"_ Maya said quickly, opting to blurt the words out quickly instead of taking her time with them.

" _Lucas?"_ Josh asked, eyes bulging out of his head.

Maya winced and the pair were quiet for a few seconds. Josh started to pace the small floor space, taking about four laps before he sat down on the edge of his bed, running his hands over his face before looking up at her, forehead resting in his hand with his elbow resting on his knee.

"You know, I always knew that one day you and Lucas would end up together. I just kind of hoped that if I made my move before he did, you'd ignore him or something," he admitted, a small smile on his face.

"You knew that I liked Lucas?"

"Maya, you've always been far more mature than most girls your age. And because of that maturity, you were able to send Lucas on his way, allowing him to be with Riley so that he could realize that he didn't really want her and that fantasy. Instead of fighting for him or letting your heart break, you handed it like you were an adult and you were barely fifteen years old," Josh smiled at her, looking proud of his little ferret.

"So…you're not mad?"

"Mad? No," Josh scoffed. "I want you to be happy, because I like to think that our friendship helped me become as mature as fourteen-year-old Maya Hart. So, because I love you and I've always loved you and all I've ever wanted was your happiness, I'm going to watch you go and be with your Huckleberry, because that's what makes you happy. And even though I know that this isn't going to crash and burn, I'm going to let you go without a fight, because when you truly love somebody, you want them to be happy. Even if it's not with you," he shrugged.

"So…?"

"So, stop sitting here and talking to me. Get out of here and go find your cowboy and tell him that he's the only one for you," Josh smiled, shaking his head. "And do it before I decide to change my mind," he threatened.

Maya squealed, jumping to her feet and wrapping Josh in a large, friendly hug as she thanked him for being her best friend. And then she ran from his room, through the hallway and down the stairs. She ran straight out of the dorm building and into Lucas's truck, actually giving herself enough momentum to lift herself up into the ridiculously high seats.

She stared at Lucas for about ten seconds, taking in his features.

He was gorgeous, that much couldn't be denied. And he had the sex appeal of any modern day cowboy in a Nicholas Sparks novel. But, on top of that, he was _special._ He was a lost boy, trying his hardest to become the person that he had always wanted to be. He was like _Maya_ and she respected him for that, because while he was fighting his own internal battle, he was trying to encourage her to be the best possible version of herself there was. And he believed that she was full of potential to change the world.

When he was near her, it was hard to breath. And she had always felt that way about him, but she had allowed outside factors to convince her that it was because of something else. Because of some _body_ else.

But, now she was through with denying it. Something had been bugging her lately, and that was the suggestion that Lucas might just be the one for her. He might just be her prince charming. Her knight in shining armor. The love of her life. The boy who could turn her into the person that she had always wished that she could be.

And, without a single word, she pressed her lips up against his, pushing him back against the car door behind him as she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself as close to him as possible. She could feel the shock as his muscles tensed for a moment, but he immediately loosened up and his arms wound around her waist, pulling her even closer to him as his mouth began to move with hers.

"So, I take it that you conversation with Josh went well?" Lucas wondered, raising an eyebrow at her with a teasing smile on his face.

"That would explain why I kissed you, Ranger Rick," she giggled.

"Well, I have to say…I'm a little bit disappointed," he frowned.

"What?" Maya paled, feeling every muscle in her body tense up.

"You see," Lucas said, a small smile starting to spread across his face, starting with a single corner of his mouth raising before being met with the other. "The Maya Hart that I know and love would _never_ resist an opportunity to get all up in my face and shout out-"

"HA-HUR!" Maya shrieked, moving her face in close to him.

And, just like he had wanted to do at that campfire so many years before, he cupped her face in both of her hands and pulled her in close to him, pressing his lips up against her own. They pulled apart almost as breathless as they had been after their first kiss in the park and he left his forehead pressed up against her.

"That's more like it," he nodded once.

"You know that I'm not gonna stop teasing you about being from Texas, right?" Maya wondered, raising a seductive eyebrow.

"I wouldn't have it any other way," he assured her.

"I _will_ break you," she assured him.

"Well, ma'am, I hate to break it to you, but you already have," He told her, playing up the country tang as he tipped an imaginary cowboy hat in her direction, adding in a single, flirtatious wink with that same teasing smile on his face that he always seemed to have whenever it came to her.

Because that was who they were. Maya and Lucas-the couple that strongly resembled a burning fire. Since the eighth grade, they had been the cutest couple and now, they were officially that. Because, for the first time in her life, Maya wasn't ashamed to admit that Lucas could be the one.


	7. Christmases When You Were Mine

**Scream Me a Love Song  
A Collection of GMW Song Fictions  
No. 7: Christmases When You Were Mine**

 _ **A/N: Just a quick little oneshot after viewing Girl Meets a Christmas Maya. Enjoy!**_

Lucas Friar walked downstairs on Christmas morning at his Pappy Joe's ranch and couldn't help but smile.

Pappy Joe and his Grandma Rose always made sure that every single Christmas was nothing less than perfect for him. The tree was over six feet tall and covered in sparkling white lights, with dozens of ornaments that had been passed down throughout generations of his mother's side of the family hanging from every branch. A few additions had been added, from artwork that he had made in his childhood as well as picture framed ornaments to show his progression from a newborn into the sixteen-year-old boy he currently was.

Garland and mistletoe covered almost every surface of the ranch and the piles of presents were sky high, all of them for Lucas, the sole grandson on his mother's side of the family who was spoiled by Pappy Joe and Grandma Rose.

And while it was usually all that Lucas had ever wanted when he was celebrating Christmas, he couldn't help but find himself wishing that every single speck of mistletoe was taken down and destroyed, because sweet, hidden kisses underneath the weeds were the last things that he wanted to think about that year. And that was because everything that he wanted was miles away in a city covered in snow that looked so picture perfect, he was sure it belonged in a snow globe.

His mother had spent most of his Christmas break in the kitchen, talking with his grandmother in hushed tones as they whispered their concerns for Lucas. His mother had been doing that since he had returned from the Ski Lodge and told her that he was officially dating Riley, if he was being honest. She had noticed the change in Lucas, as he started to turn back into the inclusive boy that he had been when he was living in Texas, without the aggressive streak.

He hadn't spoken to the reason for his downward spiral since he had gotten on the plane for Texas. He barely ever spoke to her anymore, if he was being honest. She had sent him a quick text early that morning, when she had woken up for her own Christmas festivities back in New York City, to wish him a Merry Christmas and let him know that she hoped all was well with him, but that was all that Maya Hart had spoken to him in days.

He wanted to tell her that he was alright, but he wasn't sure if she really even cared. Ever since he had picked Riley, after Maya had made it clear she wouldn't fight for him, he hadn't been able to tell if Maya was even his friend anymore. He knew that their friendship was different, but things were far more drastic than he ever would have imagined them becoming.

This wasn't supposed to be a lonely time of the year, though, and he knew that. Besides, he shouldn't be whining over Maya Hart, because he was dating Riley Matthews, her best friend. And he wasn't the type of guy to take his girlfriend for granted.

He wasn't the type of guy to hurt a girl, using her just so that he could try to get over the love of his life. That wasn't fear to Riley, and she really was a lovely girl and he really did care about her. He knew that he would eventually be able to come to love her, but it would never be the way that he cared for Maya. The blonde beauty was special to him and he knew it as well as anybody.

And while he may have never had a time when he and Maya were dating, he did have the factor that the previous year, he hadn't had to worry about Riley. Instead, Riley had stepped aside and told Lucas and Maya to give their romance a shot. The previous Christmas, he had believed that Maya was his, and that he was finally on his way to having the girl of his dreams. By New Year's Eve, however, reality came crashing in and he realized that a romance with him and Maya would never be possible, because it would bring in so many complications.

He really had been doing fine without Maya.

His life hadn't been that different, if he was being honest, because since his arrival in New York City, he had been pushed into Riley's arms. So, officially dating Riley and knowing that he couldn't have Maya didn't make his life any harder. He had honestly been doing completely fine without her.

But, once the nights started to get cold and he remembered those few weeks when Riley had stepped aside and let Lucas be with Maya, things had started to get hard for him.

And now, there he was, sitting in the living room of his grandfather's ranch-his favorite place in the world, with his family who thought of him as being their pride and joy, with stacks of presents to open, and he was nothing but miserable.

His grandparents had been together for years. They were like Cory and Topanga-meeting when they were children and becoming best friends. Falling in love and, after a few failed relationships with other people, realizing that they belonged with one another. Watching them together reminded Lucas of something that he would never get to have, because he was stuck with Riley and he couldn't have Maya.

Even his mother had managed to find love again, after the divorce with Lucas's asshole of a father. And while she was cuddling up on the couch with her new boyfriend, Lucas was sitting there alone, wishing that Maya Hart was sitting besides him. He would trade all of the presents underneath that tree for her.

No, while everybody else had somebody to hold, Lucas had to come to terms with the fact that Christmas was going to be a lonely time for him, because there would never be another Christmas when Maya was close to being his.

"Merry Christmas, everybody!" he said, forcing a smile on his face as he plopped down on the floor and pulled on the Santa hat that his mother always insisted on him wearing for Christmas morning.

He wasn't really in a cheerful mood, but he was going to do what he had to do.

"There's a little special something for you-that box wrapped in white with the drawings all over it? It came in the mail the other day and we thought you might want to open that up first," his mother smiled at him from the couch, her head resting on Trevor's shoulder.

Lucas frowned, eyebrows furrowing together as he tried to figure out who could have sent that gift. When he saw the perfectly wrapped box, though, with the carefully drawn sketches, he knew exactly who had sent the gift.

There was a large, oversized silver bow on the top with a card tucked beneath it. He started with that, because he knew that if she had added a card, there was something important inside of it.

Sure enough, he was right. Written in her girly, swirly handwriting, in green ink-his favorite color-was a note from the girl he hadn't been able to stop thinking about:

 _Dear Huckleberry,_

 _It seems like it's been forever since I called you that. It seems like forever since we've really talked, actually. But, I got your name for Secret Santa and I wanted to make sure that you got your gift. Riley made us do this stupid thing where we had to explain why we got one another the gifts we got one another, because everybody got even worse gifts than usual. Even though I'm pretty sure this gift speaks for itself, I figured I'd spell it out for you. But, first, I just wanted to let you know that I miss you. And I wanted to thank you for last year, when you brought me to spend Christmas with you and your mom. It meant a lot to me-and to my mom. She really loves your mom-actually, speaking of that…let me guess-you got your mom another sweater for Christmas, didn't you? How was Christmas Eve with your dad? Your cousins show up late, again? Sorry I couldn't really help you decorate-I know you suck at getting the lights up straight. Listen…I know that this shouldn't be a lonely time of the year, but I miss you. I've been cutting you out ever since you and Riley started dating, because it sucks to see you guys together, but I want you to know that I miss you and I miss those Christmases, as few as they were, were we got to hang out together and be happy and comfortable and friends. I miss you, Ranger Rick, and I want you to know that last Christmas was my favorite Christmas, because that was as close as I'll ever come to you being mine._

 _-The Blonde Beauty_

Lucas smiled to himself as he closed the card, setting it aside and started to unwrap the present, shocked by what was inside.

Every year, Maya asked Lucas what he wanted for Christmas or his birthday or any other special occasion. His answer was always the same and she always laughed at him, getting him some other than the one thing that he really wanted from her.

This time, though, she had done something a little bit different. She had finally given him what he had been asking for. Inside of the perfectly wrapped package were four canvases, each one decorated with a perfect piece of artwork created by Maya. Something from her heart-something that was meaningful and a part of her.

The first one he pulled out was a painting of himself, in Texas, wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat, with Wrangler jeans and a flannel shirt. He was standing over another boy, with bruises covering his face and blood covering his own knuckles. Across the top, in that same hunter green color that he loved so much, it said "Who you used to be".

The next one was another painting of him, but this one was him sitting in a classroom with a crown on his head that read MORAL COMPASS. He was dressed in a pair of khakis with a button down shirt and his hair was perfectly styled. The top of that one said "Who everybody thinks you are".

Then there was one of him riding a bull, dressed exactly as he had when they had taken the trip together the year before. He had one hand in the air, clutching his hat with the bull looked as though it were attempting to throw him off. The top of that one said "Who you want to be".

And the final one was a picture of him, standing in front of the fire with Maya in front of him. He was cupping her face in his hands and staring down into her eyes. She was wearing that same outfit she had worn that night by the campfire, back in Texas and he was in the same outfit from that night. And the top of that one said "Who you are to me".

He smiled to himself as he stacked the canvases into a pile besides him. Maya was right-the gift did speak for itself. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to read the note that she had added to the card.

 _Huckleberry._

 _You used to be the type of guy who solved problems with his fists. You're not that guy anymore. But, you're also not the guy that I thought you were. The perfect moral compass who does everything by the book. You're definitely not Mr. Perfect, and it took me a while to realize that, but I know that it's true. I know that you want to be a hero, but that's not who you are either. You can't protect everybody and we all know that as well as you do. Instead, to me, you're some teenage boy who doesn't really know who he is yet. But, in the right place, with the right girl, you know exactly who you are and exactly who you want. So, while you try to remember the guy who you really are, I want you to know that I'll always be here, waiting to drive you crazy one more time in the firelight._

 _-A short stack of pancakes_

He smiled to himself. He was going to hate himself for what he was going to have to do when he got back to the city, but he had to do what Maya told him to do. He had to find himself and he had to be the real him. He couldn't keep trying to change himself to fit the mold that other people tried to fit him in.

"What did she send you, sweetie?" his mom asked, trying to peer around him from her seat on the couch.

"Some paintings," he grinned.

"Really? _Riley_ sent you paintings?" His mother frowned, leaning back into the couch.

"They're not from Riley….they're from Maya," he explained.

"From _Maya?_ You mean that your girlfriend didn't send you anymore?" his mother asked curiously.

Lucas knew what she was doing. And for once, he was going to give her the answer that he knew she wanted to hear.

"I don't think Riley's going to be my girlfriend for that much longer," he shrugged, carefully folding up the wrapping paper from Maya's gift so that he could save it.

"Does that mean I'll be seeing more of Maya?" His mother asked with a small smile.

"That pretty little blonde who came with you and your friends to visit last year?" Grandma Rose asked eagerly.

"Yeah, well…I think I made the wrong decision when I picked Riley," Lucas confessed, reaching behind his back to scratch awkwardly at his neck. "And I think I gotta make things right when we get back to New York," he explained.

"You're breaking up with Riley?" his mother asked.

"You taught me to do the right thing, momma," Lucas shrugged. "So, that's what I gotta do. It's gonna suck and it's gonna be a big risk, but I gotta break up with Riley and tell Maya the truth," he said sheepishly.

"I did a good job with you," his mom smiled at him.

* * *

"What are you doing here?"

Maya slid open her bedroom window and stepped aside, allowing Lucas to slide into her room.

"I can't come thank my Secret Santa for the amazing present?" he asked her with a sheepish grin, raising an eyebrow at her playfully.

"I just find it kind of funny that you came here before you went to go see Riley," Maya rolled her eyes, heading back towards her bed which was piled high with what he assumed were the presents she had gotten for Christmas-although he didn't really understand why there was a broken clock in the pile.

"How do you know I didn't go there first?"

"Because you wouldn't be here right now. You'd still be there," Maya shrugged her shoulders, working on folding the clothes piled up on her bed.

"Not if Riley's not my girlfriend anymore," Lucas shrugged, rising to his feet from the window sill and stuffing his hands into his pockets, raising his shoulders up towards his ears as he stared sheepishly at the ground.

"She broke up with you for not telling her about going to Texas?" Maya scoffed.

"She didn't break up with me," Lucas said.

And then Maya froze.

"I broke up with her, because I made the wrong choice," He explained, taking a cautious step towards her.

"You need to leave. You can't be here right now," she insisted.

"Maya, Riley's okay with it. You stepped aside for her-twice," He reminded her.

"You're my best friend's ex-boyfriend. That means that I can't be with you. Lucas, you made up your mind at the the Ski Lodge and you didn't pick me. That means that you don't want to be with me. You want to be with Riley. So, don't do this to me again," Maya pleaded.

"Maya, I never meant to hurt you. I always told you that I could never hurt you and I meant that," Lucas insisted, walking towards her.

"But you did!" Maya snapped, throwing down the shirt she was working on folding and whirling around to face him. "You picked my best friend and you broke my heart and I had to send away my best friend because I couldn't bare to be around you knowing that you picked her over me!"

"You had Josh!" Lucas snapped. "You were all over him. You were in that stupid Triangle, but the second he showed up, you fell all over him. How do you think that made me feel?"

"You weren't jealous of Josh," Maya rolled her eyes. "You were jealous of Evan and we all know it. So don't give me some-"

"Maya,' Lucas sighed, taking a step towards her. "I never wanted to hurt you," he said, eyes softening as he reached out to place a reassuring hand on her arm.

"But you did," Maya rolled her eyes.

"I love you," Lucas blurted out.

"What?" Maya gasped.

"I love you, Maya. You told me that I can't keep pretending to be the guy that everybody else wants me to be? Well, the guy that I truly am is the guy that belongs with you. So, stop trying to make me fit a mold. Let me be-"

And then Maya cut him off, throwing her arms around his neck and jumping up into his arms, pressing her lips against his. She caught him off guard, so that he stumbled back just slightly, but once he realized what was happening, he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her from the ground, twirling her around.

"Is that a yes?" He smirked.

Maya laughed, shaking her head as she leaned in to kiss him again.


	8. Freedom

**Scream Me A Love Song  
A Collection of GMW Song-Fics  
No. 8: Freedom**

 ** _A/N: Here's a little song-fic based off of a song from The Unauthorized Autobiography of Samantha Brown. Rather than being a song about LUCAYA, or any other ship, I decided to focus this chapter on the friendship between Riley and Maya that lies at the core of the show. The next song-fic that I have in mind will put everything back on track with being a LUCAYA story, with the two of them together in one of the most in-character, canon-like ways that I could find for them, in song form._**

* * *

"Let's go."

Maya Hart didn't waste a single second as she climbed in through the bay window in Riley Matthew's bedroom. Maya had never really ben one to play games, after all. She cut right to the chase, the same way that the outgoing blonde bombshell always did. If there was one thing that Maya definitely didn't lack, it was confidence. It radiated from her, as she shook out her thick mane of buttery, yellow-blonde curls so that they tumbled down her back, with her hands on her hips as she flashed her brunette best friend a confident smile.

"Go where?" Riley wondered, sitting up in her bed and flashing her best friend an earnest smile.

Despite the air of mystery following Maya's demand, Riley was going to be somewhat intrigued, and Maya knew it. That was why she continued to do it.

"The highway's calling," Maya sing-songed, rocking back and forth playfully on the balls of her feet.

"Maya, I'm not even dressed yet," Riley rolled her eyes.

Maya's answer confirmed to Riley that this was another one of Maya's "master" plans. She had an idea to do something adventurous, and that meant that everybody should join in. Riley's entire life had been spent standing by Maya's side as she accompanied her on each and every whim.

When Maya had left to go to art school in the heart of New York City, a few miles away from their origins in Greenwich Village, Riley's adventures had ceased. But now, Maya was back. Since Riley was on her spring break, Maya had decided to spend a rare weekend home, visiting her tall best friend, who had gone to school a little more locally so that she could continue to live at home. Maya, meanwhile, was in a dorm room and living it up at college.

Today was supposed to be the day that Maya arrived home, staying in her old bedroom and visiting Riley nonstop. Instead, Maya decided that it was the perfect time for the girls to go on an adventure.

"So _get_ dressed," Maya replied, stating it as though it were the obvious solution to the problem. "The sun is shining, Riley," she said, with that same sing-song tone in her voice, continuing to rock on the balls of her feet.

Riley knew it wouldn't take long to do what Maya wanted. After all, Maya was dressed fairly simply, in a pair of dark denim, distressed looking shorts with so many tears and frayed hems that they looked like they could fall apart completely at any given moment. A white, razor back tank top hugged her chest, and she had pulled a plaid flannel shirt in various shades of blues on over it, to bring out her sparkling, denim blue eyes. A pair of navy TOMS completed her outfit. Getting dressed wasn't the hard part of Maya's demands, however. It didn't matter if Riley met one demand. If she met one, she would have to meet them all.

But, she also knew that trying to resist Maya's demands was absolutely futile, because nobody said no to Maya.

Besides, Riley needed an adventure. She needed a distraction, at the very least, after her most recent ex-boyfriend (despite the fact that they had broken up at the beginning of senior year, when it was clear they wouldn't be going to the same places in the future) had called her up to let her know that there was somebody else. It wasn't that he had done it to hurt her even more. In fact, he had done it because he and Riley were still the best of friends and swore they'd always be honest with one another. The problem with that was that it meant he had to inform her as soon as he had found another girl to love, and that meant that he had to break Riley's heart all over again.

"Let's get in the car and just…. _remember."_ Maya said, throwing her arms up in the air and giving a twirl as she leaned her head back.

Riley rolled her eyes, once again, making her way over towards her closet. She replaced her plaid, cotton pajama bottoms with a pair pale purple, eyelet shorts. She paired the shorts with a sleeveless, white mock-neck turtle and grabbed her favorite black blazer, with the lilac sweatshirt hood attached, shrugging it on as she slid her feet into a pair of sparkly TOMS. She grabbed her make-up bag, already packed up and dropped it into the duffel bag she kept packed for whenever Maya wanted to go some sort of adventure. She slid the bag onto her shoulder and gave Maya a look, signaling that she was ready to go.

"Remember _what?"_ Riley asked.

"Let's go," Maya grinned, a wicked twinkle to her eyes as she ignored the question from her best friend, meaning that she most definitely wasn't going to be giving the brunette any sort of an answer.

Excitedly, she hurried right back out the bay window, knowing that Riley would follow her. As the girls made their way down the fire escape, Maya laughed excitedly, taking the climb far too dangerously for Riley's liking. She raced towards her car, hopping into the driver's seat. As Riley stared at Maya's fire red Chevy Malibu with a panicked look on her face, Maya lowered her car window and slapped her hand over the horn. Then, she leaned out of the window.

"GET IN, LOSER!"

Maya did this a lot. She loved road trips, and she and Riley had taken many in the two years since the pair had turned sixteen. Maya drove on all of them. Every single one, because Riley wasn't capable of such a feat.

Besides, Maya believed in listening to the highway and that meant that she wouldn't be okay with Riley, with her GPS and predetermined destination, even if she could operate a motor vehicle. Maya didn't even like it when Riley tried to give her feedback when they were on one of their trips. Maya's philosophy was that they would always go exactly where the road took them. Nothing was going to change that, because it wasn't like they actually had anywhere to be. Instead, they just followed the wind.

She'd start to drive, and she'd just keep driving. There wasn't any stopping until Maya decided that they had arrived.

"You're not doing it right," Maya snapped, slapping her hand against the power button of her car's stereo and whirling her head around to face Riley with an accusatory look.

"Doing _what?"_ Riley asked innocently.

"You're not in it," Maya sighed, turning back towards the road with a look of complete and total disappointment, which made Riley wonder what had changed in their friendship, that Maya was being so hard on her.

"What are you talking about," Riley groaned, leaning her head back against the seat.

"You're not in the moment, Riles," Maya insisted. "Just…tell me what it feels like," she demanded.

"I don't know…you tell me-what does it feel like?" Riley asked, looking over towards Maya and wondering how the blonde was able to throw caution to the wind and live her life as if she could accomplish anything that she wanted to, as long as she was willing to try.

"You remember," Maya smirked, removing her hand from the wheel and hitting the button to lower both her and Riley's windows, allowing the breeze to run through the girls' hair. "Feel the wind blowing your hair," she instructed, reaching out to stop Riley from putting her window back up.

"Where are we going?" Riley asked, trying to contain her long, wavy mane of dark chocolate colored hair as the wind roared through it, turning it into a tangled mess that would be impossible to redeem.

"We're picking a road and going wherever it takes us. So, absolutely anywhere," Maya said confidently, both hands on the wheel as she gave an excited bounce of her shoulders.

"Do you even know where we're going?" Riley asked.

"We're heading south," Maya said confidently. Riley gave her a pointed look. "Or maybe west," she shrugged.

Riley rolled her eyes, for what felt like the millionth time that day, as she reached into her duffel bag and pulled out her atlas. She always kept it, even though she knew that Maya would never listen to her or follow her directions. Maya was a free spirit and she did whatever she wanted. Still, at least Riley would have some idea of where she was, so that she didn't have to worry about getting lost and dying without anybody knowing where she was.

"We don't know much, but we're just making it up as we go and I don't know why that's such a problem for you," Maya glared, reaching out and trying to tug the atlas from Riley's hands.

"Stop it," Riley insisted, yanking it back.

As the girls struggled to gain control of the atlas, the car swerved slightly due to the fact that she was distracted. As Riley's grip tightened in her panic about the car and Maya's driving, Maya yanked even harder as she tried to put the car back on track. And then the atlas tore, ripping right in half.

"Tear up the atlas," Maya smirked. "And don't read the street signs," she reached out a hand and slapped her hand over Riley's eyes so that she wasn't about to see where she was going.

Riley sighed, pushing Maya's hand away and turning the radio back on and crankling up the volume. She was done talking to Maya, because she knew that it was pointless. No matter what she said, the blonde was going to be in control of this trip. That was the way that things always were and Riley was a fool to try to think any differently about things.

"You wanna know what we're doing?" Maya sighed, reaching out to turn the radio down so that the girls could comfortably talk over it.

"That's what I've been asking all day," Riley snapped.

"We're driving for the sake of driving-anywhere. And that's _freedom,"_ Maya barked, shooting Riley one of her know-it-all looks as she narrowed her eyes on the road in front of her.

"Freedom," Riley muttered, shaking her head as she kicked her feet up onto Maya's dashboard and stared out of the open window.

"What _bug_ do you have up _your_ ass?" Maya barked, sounding the angriest that she had ever been with Riley. At least, the angriest that she had been with Riley since the girls were in middle school and Maya had gotten upset with Riley for taking Lucas Friar's side in a fight over the side of the blonde.

"I don't have a bug up my ass!" Riley gasped, turning away from the window to face Maya.

"Do you even realize how epic this weekend is going to be? There's like _six_ parties and I'm taking this supposedly mega awesome lecture called s _ex,"_ Maya said brightly, her eyes sparkling as she spoke. "And you have to come," the second part came out like a plea, showing Riley that Maya was doing this for a bigger purpose than just some whim.

Sometimes, Maya chose to go on these road trips so that she could Riley. When Riley and Lucas had broken up at the beginning of senior year, the girls had gotten into the car and driven down to Maya's step-father's cabin in upstate New York, so that they could have an entire spa-weekend, flirting it up with the cute boys out on the lake that the cabin resided on.

When Riley got her rejection letter from Princeton, Maya had planned out an epic road trip for the girls down to Florida, for Spring Break, so that the girls could carry out Riley's biggest dream of going to Disney World, so that Riley realized that one college was not going to be make or break in the process of her making all of her dreams come true. Instead, all she needed was a friend who was willing to do anything for her.

Still, just because Maya might have Riley's best interest at heart, it didn't mean that Riley had to blindly follow through with whatever the blonde tried to force upon her.

"I'm on break," Riley said. "I don't really feel like going to class," she said drily.

"Well, what do you want to do?" Maya challenged.

"I don't know," Riley sighed, shaking her head so that her hair created a curtain to frame her face.

"Riley Matthews!" Maya snapped. "Do you see that fork up ahead?" She gestured towards the two paths to enter the highway, each leading in a different direction.

"Duh."

"Well, one way leads to my school and the other leads…. somewhere else. Which way do you want to turn?" Maya asked her, shooting her a wicked grin.

"I don't know," Riley shrugged, because she honestly didn't care.

"If you don't choose, we're gonna hit that house. Left or right?" Maya said casually.

"Hold on, I'm looking at the map!" Riley shrieked, attempting to dive towards the backseat to pull out her backup map.

"Maps are for brain deads. Left or right?" Maya snapped, pulling Riley away from the backseat.

"AH!-LEFT!" Riley screamed.

Quickly, Maya swung the steering wheel for a dramatic, fast left turn at the last second. Riley fell in her seat due to the sudden jolt and the surrounding cards began to honk at her. Maya stuck her hand out the open window to flip off the drivers angered by her action, as though she had been the innocent victim in the situation.

"Very slow, Matthews," Maya observed.

"So, where are we going?" Riley asked.

"I have no idea," Maya cackled, throwing her head back as she laughed.

Riley clenched her hands into fists as she stared out of the front windshield, trying to make sense out of her best friend. She couldn't even begin to figure out what Maya's master plan was this time around, though, which just further upset her. Normally, she knew what Maya was trying to help her with. This time, she couldn't begin to pinpoint it, because she hadn't told anybody about her latest conversation with Lucas.

And Maya hadn't spoken to Lucas since graduation. At the after party after Maya's graduation party, something had happened between the pair after Riley had passed out due to her drunken state. Riley didn't know what had happened, but she had known that there had been some sort of fight between the two of them. Their friendship had ended right then and there, and they hadn't spoken since. Maya hadn't even bothered to show up at Lucas's own graduation party and when they were both present at Farkle Minkus's party, they had made sure that they were in completely different areas through the duration of the party, and Lucas had left as soon as he had been there long enough to be deemed polite. Once he could take off without being viewed as rude, he made his excuses and said his goodbyes and disappeared.

There was no way for Maya to know anything about Lucas, because she never asked questions about him. She didn't want to hear anything about him from anybody, no matter what was happening. She just didn't care, and that meant that Riley's latest secret was safe.

But, if Maya didn't know, it left the question of what was going on.

It left the question of where Maya was taking her. Of why she was taking her away. It left so many questions and Riley hated when she didn't have the slightest of ideas as to what was going on with her best friend. Especially when it involved a road trip that was going to take Riley to god knows where for however long it took Maya to find whatever satisfaction she was looking for.

Something had to be going on with Maya.

That was what Riley decided, because it was clear that this road trip wasn't meant to help her in anyway. Instead, the trip must be for the interest of the blonde positioned behind the wheel.

While that made Riley feel better, because it meant that she wasn't at the core of yet another spontaneous road trip, it opened the way for another question. What could possibly be bothering Maya that she felt the need to drive all the way to Riley's apartment and force her into the car, just to head back in the same direction that her school was in, even if they may have taken a different fork along the road.

"So, tell me everything," Riley plastering on her easy going smile as she turned back towards Maya.

"Whaddya mean?"

"How's college? Is it absolutely everything?"

"Of course," Maya said, a smug smile on her face. "At least, it was until my roommate got pregnant. Then I took her to Planned Parenthood and you know what? Those bitches can _lecture._ I had this one professor and she asked us all this question that really got to me," Maya explained, flying through topics and telling a million stories at once, the way that she always did when she was excited about something.

"What did she ask you?" Riley frowned, furrowing her eyebrows together.

"What do you want?" Maya said, eyes locked on the road in the most determined of ways.

"Wait…what?" Riley asked, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

"She asked me, what I wanted. Like, in life. And that really got to me. So, I went back to my room and I sat there and I really thought about it-while my roommate got so high that I think I got a contact high just from being in the same room at her. I don't know, I ate my weight in Cheetos that night, either way," She shrugged.

"Well…what did you decide? What do you want?" Riley asked.

"I want…I don't know, yet. But I know that I didn't want to sit there in that dorm room and let life pass me by," Maya explained.

"You've never been one to just let life pass by. Everything's an adventure with you," Riley giggled.

"That's true, but…well, I want romance and adventure and fun. And studying at FIT wasn't what I wanted. I don't want to be some designer. I want to be an actress. So, I went straight to my advisor's office and we started work filling out some transfer applications, because what I want in life is to travel and see the world and constantly try new things. I never want to just settle down," Maya explained, her excitement growing with every word that she said.

"I don't understand what that has to do with this trip," Riley frowned, reaching behind her to pull her hair back into a loose ponytail.

"That's your problem, you know that? You spend so much time sitting there and planning and trying to make sense of things. You've probably been counting every mile marker as we past by," Maya stuck out her tongue playfully at her best friend.

"We've been driving for fifty-seven and a half-fifty-eight-miles," Riley said, without hesitation and correcting herself as they passed the next half-mile mark.

"The tank is full and the sun is high. Can you just relax and have some fun?" Maya wondered, raising her eyebrows in amusement at the brunette sitting in her passenger's seat.

"That's kind of hard, because with the way that you're driving, I can't help but feel like every passing mile might just be our last," Riley teased, sticking her tongue out at Maya as she leaned in towards her best friend.

"You can't just live your life letting days pass you by!" Maya insisted, shoving Riley back into her seat as she giggled at her friend's antics. "You have to take life by the reigns and take control over things. Take a risk-take a chance. Take a fucking shot, for once in your life and just do something absolutely wild," Maya ordered.

"I wish that I could be more like you. I wish, more than anything, that I could live my life without looking back and wondering what could have been. Do you know how many regrets I have because I can't be as reckless and carefree as you are? Especially when I don't _have_ you?" Riley sighed, looking at Maya and showing her all of her unhappiness with the state of mind that she possessed.

"Do you want to turn around and head back home?"

The question was simple. It was straightforward and it didn't require any explanation. All Riley had to do was tell Maya one way or the other, and she could go back to enjoying her life, without any extra excitement to it. Their weekend could be spent relaxing in Riley's bedroom, listening to music and eating junk food.

Only, Maya had never once asked such a question before. She never gave Riley the chance to back out on one of their road trips and that meant there was something more there. It was either a test, to see if Riley would chicken out, or it was being asked because Maya knew what the real answer was, even if Riley didn't know it herself yet. The only thing that Riley knew for certain was that Maya did not want to hear that Riley wanted her to turn the car around and bring her back home.

"We've come too far," Riley shook her head, knowing that it was the truth.

"Okay, well, then, we're going to drive until we hit Nashville," Maya shrugged her shoulders easily, but her smile showed that Riley had given her the right answer.

"Nashville?" Riley gulped.

"Freedom!" Maya shrieked, excitedly as she turned towards Riley.

"Freedom," Riley cheered, but her face lacked the proper level of excitement, even though she thrust a fist in the air to try to pretend that she was enjoying their road trip.

"What do you want to do now?" Maya asked, firing off the question without a moment's hesitation, showing that her intention was the try to catch Riley off guard and get the most honest answer from the brunette, so that she wasn't allowed to think about it and figure out a lie.

"Make a right?" Riley asked meekly.

"In life, Riles," Maya rolled her eyes. "Think big. What do you want?"

"Uh, I don't know…I want to get my license," Riley said honestly.

"Bigger!"

"I want the deafening sound of driving fast with the windows down!" Riley shouted, the words flying from her mouth without a second thought.

"More!"

"I want to break rules and do something unexpected!" Riley said, her feet swinging from the dashboard and onto the floor as she sat up straight in her seat, bouncing excitedly with each word that came out of her mouth.

"Good! I want Arbys," Maya nodded.

"I want to hold onto _this_ moment, _right_ now!"  
"I want to go skinny-dipping in the ocean!" Maya shouted, hanging her head out of the window.

"I want to drive forever!" Riley said, leaning her own head out of her window as she started screaming.

She was actually starting to feel it, for the first time in her life. She was able to make the connection and explain why Maya did what she did. She was able to make sense of Maya's spontaneous road trips. She knew why Maya loved to live on the edge and do things that weren't planned or expected. Maya had this magical ability to take any day and make it special, just by making a last second decision and following through with it, without taking even a moment to think about the consequences.

Maya's entire life revolved around one simple concept-the concept of freedom. She didn't belong to anybody, and she didn't have to answer to anybody. And she had spent the better part of her life trying to make Riley live her life the same way.

Every long highway that Maya decided to take the girls on and every cheap rest stop the girls decided to get food from, was just another stop along Maya's path. And the final destination of Maya's path was for Riley to become as confident in herself as Maya was. Maya wanted to make sure that Riley learned how to live her life to the fullest, so that she didn't live a life full of regrets.

That was Maya's definition of freedom.

Stopping by Riley's room and deciding right then and there to just get in the car and go-that was freedom. It wasn't an order by Maya. Instead, it was Riley's ticket towards freedom. Every single "let's go" was another step towards Riley realizing everything that life had to offer her.

"Pick a road, pick a highway," Maya stated, breaking Riley away from her thoughts. "Any road is going my way, okay? All that you have to is sit right there and enjoy the ride. Enjoy life, without any stupid, complicated philosophies. There's no need for college or a career or kids or a fancy hour. None of that matters, if we've got a car and a highway. So, let's go-as long as it's any road but the one we're on," Maya said, flashing Riley a quick wink as she explained the way that she determined what was going to happen every single time they went on a road trip, showing Riley that Maya could tell that she was starting to figure everything out for herself.

"No college?" Riley gulped, her one moment of second-guessing everything she had just revealed coming out to play.

"And no boring career," Maya added confidentially.

"No screaming kids and no mortgage," Riley said, the realization of this new concept starting to fully dawn on her as she spoke.

"Driving anywhere-straight into the dawn, because that's freedom," Maya sighed, slipping on her sunglasses.

"You driving and me riding shotgun. Just two girls out on the highway without a roadmap or a curfew. Two friends with nowhere that we actually to have be," Riley said wistfully, placing her elbow on the open car window and leaning against her palm.

"All of that can be summed up in just one word," Maya pointed out to her.

But, Maya was laughing and Riley started laughing with her, finding the joy from her best friend to be absolutely contagious. Every part of it felt so amazing, in a type of way that Riley had never felt before. It felt absolutely real, but it also felt like a memory, reminding her of every other time that the girls had been out on the road in this same fashion.

The rising sun was so bright, that while Riley searched for her sunglasses to shield her eyes, she needed to squint her dark brown eyes out the window, because she refused to miss a single second of the gorgeous scenery around her. She was finally starting to feel true freedom for the first time in her life and she couldn't bring herself to miss a single second of that.

"Drive faster," Riley ordered, reaching out and turning up the radio so that the music was blaring through the speakers.

"Yeah!" Maya cheered.

"Windows down and we need to….to sing like we're rock stars!" Riley declared, reaching up to open the sunroof of Maya's car as Maya lowered the back two windows of the car, so that the wind was roaring through the car, rushing through the girls' hair.

"Oh yeah," Maya sang out, allowing her voice to fill the car.

"YEAH!" Riley sang, her voice off-key but she didn't care.

" _YEAH!"_ Maya sang, folding one of her hands into the "rock on" symbol as she bopped her head to the beat she was making up.

The girls repeated their cycle, singing at the top of her their lungs and off key, not even close to being along with the song that was blaring from Maya's radio.

And, for the first time since Riley's break up, she wasn't thinking about Lucas. She wasn't thinking about who the new girl could be. She wasn't worrying about what it meant that she was no longer dating the same guy that she had been dating since the seventh grade. All that she was focused on was her best friend, as they sang along to the radio and danced to the beat, riding down the highway without any actual destination in mind.

Their focus was on only one thing. Trying to make the most out of their lives, so that nobody else had any power over their lives. They were the ones in control, and if there was one thing that nobody could ever take from them, it was that knowledge.

"You know why I drag you all over the country on these road trips?" Maya asked.

"So that I learn how to be a little reckless?" Riley asked, her cheeks flushed and a breathless smile on her face.

"You guessed it," Maya smirked.

"Because that's _freedom,"_ Riley teased, sticking her tongue out at the blonde.

"You got that right," Maya replied, reaching out and playfully punching Riley on the shoulder.


End file.
